Women's Soccer Senior Class of 2025
Knox College
All smiles for the seniors today, Sara Mirani, Aleene Ramirez and Alex Halleck
0
Eureka EUR (0-5-0, 0-0-0)
8
Winner Knox KNOX (1-5-0, 0-0-0)
Eureka EUR
(0-5-0, 0-0-0)
0
Final
8
Knox KNOX
(1-5-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Eureka EUR 0 0 0
Knox KNOX 5 3 8

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

Women’s Soccer Explodes on Senior Day for 8-0 Win

Aleene Ramirez notched a hat trick to lead the onslaught

GALESBURG, Ill. ­— Knox women's soccer head coach Annie Gerdes and the Prairie Fire may have had to endure a lightning delay of nearly two hours during halftime, but for her and especially the seniors, the outcome was well worth the wait.

Playing their best match of the season, Knox (1-5) secured a dominant 8-0 victory over Eureka College (0-5) on Saturday afternoon at Jorge Prats Field. The win marked the Prairie Fire's first triumph of the 2024 season to cap a wonderful celebration of their four seniors — Alex Halleck, Sara Mirani, Aleene Ramirez, and student manager Abby Waltenberry — as well as Gerdes' first career victory.

Ramirez led the way with a hat trick, scoring in the 20th, 35th, and 77th minutes, and contributed an assist on junior Isabella Shubert's goal in the 59th minute. But it was Halleck who put Knox on the board first, finding the net in the eighth minute for her first career goal. The Prairie Fire controlled the pace throughout, scoring five goals in the first half and adding three more in the second.

First-year Asia Ling added her first two goals of the season, tallying them in the 20th and 43rd minutes. And In the 75th minute, rookie Natalia Nuno scored for the first time with a setup from sophomore Emma Sineath.

"Despite the delay, our team showed up to make our seniors proud," Gerdes said following the contest. "It was great to see two seniors score and another post a shutout, plus three players scoring their first career goals. It was a team effort all around today. Now we look ahead to Coe tomorrow."

  • The eight goals are the most for the Prairie Fire since a 10-0 drubbing of Lawrence University in the 2017 season.
  • Senior goalkeeper Mirani earned the shutout in goal — the first shutout victory for Knox in almost two years — as the defense limited Eureka to just one shot.
  • The Prairie Fire outshot the Red Devils 35-1, including a 24-0 advantage in shots on goal, while Eureka goalkeeper Megan Edwards made 15 saves.
  • Knox ended a 26-game winless streak dating back to the 2022 campaign.

Knox will seek to continue its momentum at 3 p.m. tomorrow as the Prairie Fire take on Coe College at Clark Field. The game will be streamed live with stats available through the official website of Knox athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.

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