BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — For nearly 80 minutes, the Knox men's soccer team and host Illinois Wesleyan battled without either side denting the scoreboard. The scoreless tie was broken by the undefeated Titans (5-0-1) in that 80th minute, who then finished off the shutout for a 1-0 triumph over the Prairie Fire (2-5-1).
The first half was played pretty evenly with IWU having a slight in shots, 11-8. But in the second half, the Titans turned up the pressure and made it very difficult for Knox to get much of anything going. With 14 minutes to play, however, Prairie Fire junior Emmanuel Mariano put his team's only shot of the second half on goal, though Illinois Wesleyan goalkeeper Sam Kedizor was there for his third and final save.
Little more than a minute later, Knox netminder Nicolas Lantzendorff made his 13th save of the afternoon. That also turned out to be his last of the day, and with 10:32 remaining, Ryder Coleman snuck a shot past the fifth-year senior for the game-winning goal.
- The Prairie Fire have dropped their last four games after starting the year 2-1-1.
- Junior Juan Perez Mejia provided three of Knox's nine shots, and one of the three on goal.
- This was Illinois Wesleyan's fifth consecutive shutout, and the team has outscored its opposition this year, 14-1.
Knox will finally play its home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 24, after eight straight games on the road when it hosts Coe College (3-3-1) at Jorge Prats Field at 5 p.m. The game will begin at 5 p.m. with live video and stats of the contest accessible through the official athletics website of Knox College, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.
