MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — Neither men's soccer team from Knox College nor host Cornell College could find the back of the net despite firing shots off consistently through the match. It took a penalty in the box that gave the Rams (5-7-1, 3-1-1 Midwest Conference) their opportunity to dent the scoreboard, and they took advantage of it, defeating the visiting Prairie Fire (6-4-4, 2-3-1 MWC) on Wednesday afternoon, 1-0.

The two teams combined to attempt 37 shots, including a season-high 19 by Knox, but only the penalty kick off the foot of Cornell College's Justice Toledo was able to pass the goal line. 

The Prairie Fire put the pressure on early, attempting four shots in the game's first nine minutes. But by the intermission, Ram goalkeeper Jack Massey had three saves while Knox's Diogo Pereira had two as the team's went into the half in a scoreless duel.

To start the second half, Cornell played the role of the aggressor by taking the first two shots, one of which Pereira needed to save. The Prairie Fire responded with two of their own, and another shot on goal by the Rams was turned away, but in the 58th minutes a Cornell player was taken down in the box, setting up the fateful penalty kick.

Knox ended up playing down a man for the final 18-plus minutes after junior Apostolos Karamperis was whistled for his second yellow card of the afternoon. Even so, the Fire were able to take five more shots before time expired, but nothing was getting past Massey on this day.

• Pereira finished the game with a season-high nine saves, and he ranks second in the MWC in save percentage (.754) with 52 saves.
• Junior Kestervens Dera had three of Knox's six shots that were on target.
• This is just Cornell's second win over the Prairie Fire in the last 20 years (2-16-1), but the two wins have come in the last three meetings, both by 1-0 counts.

Knox returns to Jorge Prats Field this Saturday, Oct. 18 to host Lawrence University (0-8-4, 0-4-1 MWC) in its penultimate game of the season. The contest begins at 1:30 p.m. and can be watched live through the Knox portal on Hudl — watchmidwestsports.com/knox — with live stats also available on PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.