GALESBURG, Ill. — Visiting Illinois Wesleyan scored little more than two minutes into the match and went on to defeat the Knox College women's soccer team by a final of 4-1 at Jorge Prats Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Prairie Fire drop to 3-4-1 on the season while the Titans moved above .500 at 5-4.
After Keira Robinson scored each of the first two goals for IWU for a 2-0 lead in the 23rd minute, Knox fought back and cut the deficit to one before the intermission. Senior Emily Jacobs sent a long, high-arcing kick downfield to first-year Eliana Juarez. When the Titan keeper came past the box to challenge her along with two IWU defenders, Juarez eluded them all and dribbled a kick gently into the goal in the 42nd minute.
A yellow card on Knox in the box — one of three assessed to the Prairie Fire — gave Illinois Wesleyan a penalty kick early in the second half, and Kayley Carew did not miss her opportunity, boosting the Titan lead back to two. The final tally came in the 71st minute on a long pass into the box to Ava Mapes.
- Juarez's goal was her fourth of the season, matching the most by any Prairie Fire player in any of the previous three seasons.
- After Illinois Wesleyan outshot Knox in the first half by a 10-1 margin, the shots were even in the second half at five apiece.
- Since the Prairie Fire won the initial meeting between the two schools in 1995, the Titans have won the last six meetings.
Knox begins play in the Midwest Conference for its next match when it travels to the preseason favorite, Lake Forest College (9-0) on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The match will be streamed live with stats for the match available through the official website of Knox College Athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu, courtesy of Lake Forest.
