Eliana Juarez
Knox College
First-year Eliana Juarez has every right to smile after scoring the game-winner in the home opener.
0
Aurora AU (0-3-0, 0-0-0)
1
Winner Knox KNOX (1-2-0, 0-0-0)
Aurora AU
(0-3-0, 0-0-0)
0
Final
1
Knox KNOX
(1-2-0, 0-0-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Aurora AU 0 0 0
Knox KNOX 0 1 1

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

Local Product Provides Lone Goal in 1-0 Victory

First-year Eliana Juarez from Galesburg scored her first collegiate goal to lift Knox to the win.

GALESBURG, Ill. — Leave it to a home-grown product to provide the game-winning — and only — goal of the Knox College women's soccer season opener. First-year Eliana Juarez, who graduated from Galesburg High School this past spring, gave the Prairie Fire (1-2) their first win of the season with her first collegiate goal (and Knox's first of the season) to lift her new team to a 1-0 win over visiting Aurora (0-3) on Saturday afternoon.

The first half was a pretty even affair with both teams having an occasional chance to score, but the Spartans stopped three Knox shots on goal and the Prairie Fire turned away a pair, leaving the two teams locked in a scoreless tie at the intermission.

The score remained that way for a bit more than the first 17 minutes of the second half, but Knox charged toward the goal as sophomore Natalia Nuño fed Juarez with a pass in stride, and she took it into the box. The Aurora keeper came out and challenged Juarez, deflecting her shot into open space. Juarez was able to run it down and put it away into the open net for a 1-0 lead.

Wallig faced four more shots on goal, saving each one, including two in the final five minutes during the Spartans' final push, to secure the victory and her third career shutout.

Don't overlook the performance of Darby Wallig in goal!

"We had two key points going into the game: play with heart and play as a team," Knox Head Coach Annie Gerdes said following the win. "They worked together on both sides of the ball and it showed. I am so proud of our team. Their performance today showed them what they are capable of, and this is just the beginning."

  • While the Prairie Fire outshot Aurora in the first half, 4-3, they managed just one shot after the half and made it count, while the Spartans could not get any of their eight shots into the net.
  • Knox's last victory had been and 8-0 rout of Eureka last Sept. 21.
  • The Prairie Fire evened the series between the two schools at 2-2 with Knox winning the last two meetings by a score of 1-0 (2019).

Knox will not get much time to savor this win as it plays at Coe College (0-2-1) tomorrow, Sept. 7, at 3 p.m. The Kohawks also played today, earning a 1-1 tie against Crown College.

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