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The varsity men's soccer program at Knox was founded in 1970 after a long history of club play going back as far as 1908. Since that time the team has enjoyed success, winning six Midwest Conference (MWC) South Division titles and three Midwest Conference championships. Knox has had a resurgence in recent years as 2014 MWC Regular Season Champions with a school record 15 wins, including 9 in league play. They were MWC Regular Season Champions again in 2017 and won the MWC Tournament in 2018 to make their first NCAA Tournament appearance. They followed that up with another Regular Season Championship in 2019.
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Knox swept the 2014 MWC men's soccer player awards when Nathaniel Logie '16 was named Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year with Charles Edemba '16 named Defensive Player of the Year. Logie and Edemba were also 2014 NSCAA NCAA Division III All-North Region second team selections.  In addition, numerous players earned Academic All-Midwest Conference honors. This past 2022 season Lucas Piqueras recieved First Team All-Conference Defender, along with Alex White receiving First Team All-Conference Attacker.
During the 2015 season the Fire earned an NCAA Division III North regional ranking en route to their second consecutive Midwest Conference tournament championship game. By season's end the team ranked 3rd in the country for goals per game and placed four members on the All-Conference teams. Charles Edemba '16 was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second season while Nathaniel Logie '16 and Abdulsalam Oganla '16 joined him as first team All-Conference selections. Phelipe Graske '18 earned second team All-Conference. Edemba and Logie were again named to the NSCAA NCAA Division III All-North Region, but this time as first team selections. Again, the team had numerous Academic All-Midwest Conference honorees as well as earning an NSCAA Team Academic Award.
Knox men's soccer is committed to promoting overall excellence on and off the field. As such, the team adheres to study hall hours 4 days a week, volunteer coaches in the winter and spring at the local county YMCA, and undertakes numerous undergraduate extracurricular activities. Current or recent members of the Fire have started non-profits, served on the Student Senate at Knox (one President) and interned at major companies in Chicagoland and even the White House in D.C.
The goal of the Prairie Fire soccer team is to be annual contenders for the Midwest Conference title and to make a run at the NCAA tournament championship.
Knox soccer players have gone on to a wide variety of successful careers. They include Randall Rademaker '79 (Political Science), an attorney and partner at Skadden Arps law firm in Chicago, James Harriman '82 (Art), an architect at John Banks Architects in Chicago, David Koh '86 (Chemistry, Spanish), a physician with the Illinois Heart & Lung Association, Kennard Wottowa '84 (Economics), the CEO of Granville Composite Products Corporation, and Matt Nagel '04 (International Relations, Computer Science), founder and attorney with Bi-State Injury Law Center in St. Louis.
For more information, submit the
Recruit Me form or e-mail head coach Kevwe Akpore at
kakpore@knox.edu. You can also call him at 309-341-7381.
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