CARLINVILLE, Ill. — Junior Kestervens Dera scored his team-leading fourth goal of the season in the 13th minute, and sophomore goalkeeper Diogo Pereira made sure it stood by turning away seven Blackburn shots as the Knox College men's soccer team left Blackburn Stadium with a 1-0 victory. The Prairie Fire are now 4-1-2 on the season and have won their last four matches, while the Beavers drop to 3-4.
Blackburn was the aggressor out of the gate, attempting four shots before even nine minutes had elapsed, the first two on goal. But what the Fire lacked in quantity early, they made up for it with quality when Dera took a pass from senior Alek Esper and ripped the net from 20 yards out just above the box for the 1-0 lead.
Before halftime arrived, Pereira had saved three other shots, keeping Knox on top. But in the second half, there were nearly as many cards issued as there were shots taken by the two teams. When the final whistle blew, 10 cards were handed out on the field, but Knox was sill standing with the 1-0 win.
"This certainly was not an easy day for us," Knox Head Coach Tyler Sheikh said. "But again we showed resilience to protect a lead. We stayed together and deserved the win. Now just one more before conference play; we will be ready.
- The Prairie Fire last won four consecutive contests just last season.
- All four of the Prairie Fire's victories in this current streak have been by one goal (1-0 twice, 2-1 twice).
- Knox is 7-3 against Blackburn dating back to the first meeting in 2001, with seven straight wins in the series.
Knox returns to Jorge Prats Field following its three-game road swing to host Simpson College (3-3-3) on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. The game will be streamed live with live stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.
