The Prairie Fire ended their 2009 soccer season with a 7-0 loss to Grinnell College.  Knox had chances, as they took 14 shots, 9 of which were on goal.   Leading the way offensively was Lawrence Povoas, who took seven shots with four of them on goal.  Goalie Max Miller had four saves, and Jared Jaggers, in his final game at Knox, made nine saves imn his first action in goal.  Jules Traschel, also playing in his final game, made three saves in his first appearance in goal.  The Prairie Fire men's soccer team would like to thank seniors Max Miller, Alex Vaassen, Lawrence Povoas, Jared Jaggers, Ben Ramsey, Jeff Wozencraft, Drew Meador and Jules Traschel for their four years of hard work and dedication. 

October 24th, 2009

In the home finale of the 2009 season for the Knox Prairie Fire Men's soccer team, the Prairie Fire's comeback bid fell short vs. Augustana College. Augustana, who took an early 2-0 lead going into halftime, added a third goal at the 48th minute to go up 3-0 and appeared to have a commanding lead. The Prairie Fire would make it interesting, however, as Donald Tchoypa struck the ball from 35 yards out to freeze the Augustana goalkeeper at the 58 minute mark. A foul in the box in the 60th minute would allow Jeff Wozencraft to put the ball in the left corner on a penalty kick to make the score 3-2. That would be as close as the Prairie Fire would get, as Augustana would get its own penalty kick and score in the 77th minute to put the game away.

Sunday October 18, 2009

Knox College o, Carroll University 4

The Knox Prairie Fire men's soccer team lost to Carroll University on Sunday, October 18th, 4-0. Carroll came into the game looking to continue to its march to a second straight Midwest Conference title, as they are now 7-0 in conference play with the win today. While Carroll's constant attack allowed for them to get off 33 shots, it was the outstanding play of Knox goalie Max Miller that kept the game at the score it was. Miller's acrobatic saves were a highlight of the game, as he totaled 18 total saves during the contest. The Prairie Fire were led offensively by Donald Tchoypa, who took 3 shots, 2 of which were on goal.

Saturday October 17, 2009

Knox College 1, Ripon College 2

The Ripon Red Hawks defeated the Knox College Prairie Fire 2-1, breaking a 1-1 tie in the 87th minute on a header from Ripon's Kyle Seemeyer. The match was 0-0 after the first half, with the Prairie Fire benefiting tremendously from the diving saves of its goal keeper Max Miller, who finished the contest with 8 saves. The Prairie Fire fell behind 1-0, when Vince Butitta of Ripon beat Miller for his fourth goal of the season, and the first of the game in the 68th minute. Nine minutes later the Prairie Fire would convert on a penalty kick opportunity, when senior captain Jeff Wozencraft beat the Red Hawks goalie Adam Haefner for his first goal of the season and to tie the score at 1. That would not hold, as ten minutes later the aforementioned header from Seemeyer beat Miller for the game winning goal.

Sunday, October 4th

Knox 0, Illinois College 7

The Prairie Fire soccer team came out sluggish, and Illinois College made them pay, scoring seven first half goals including three in the first 12 minutes to win Sunday, October 4th 7-0. The Blueboys were led by Tom Batsios, who scored his first two goals of the season. Also adding goals for the Blueboys were Travis Wilson, Zack Palton, Tyler Conney and Alex Gangnor. The Prairie Fire were led by Jared Jaggers who took 3 shots and 1 on goal.

September 27, 2009

Knox 3, Cornell College 2

The Prairie Fire men defeated the Cornell College Rams 3-2 in a very physical game at Jorge Prats Field. The game was scoreless until the 27th minute when first year Michael Gasparro (Bonita, CA - Coronado) scored his first goal of the season off a feed from first year Donald Tchoypa (San Francisco, CA - Galileo). At half it was still Knox 1, Cornell 0. Then, in the 69th minute Tchoypa again got the assist as he passed to Lawrence Povoas (Brasilia, Brazil) for the goal. Just two minutes later Povoas scored again, this time unassisted for his fifth goal of the season. The Rams managed to get past the Prairie Fire defense and score twice before the end of the game. Once in the 73rd and again in the 86th. Senior goal keeper Max Miller (Oakland, CA - Lions Bishop) played extremely well for the Prairie Fire. He had 12 saves to secure the win.

The Prairie Fire will travel to Lake Forest, IL to take on the Foresters on October 3 with a start time of 3:30 p.m.

Monmouth College at Knox College - September 26, 2009
The Prairie Fire men took on conference rival Monmouth College today at Jorge Prats Field. The game remained scoreless for the entire first half as the Scots had five shots on goal to the Prairie Fire's one. It was in the second half that Monmouth's goal keeper Owen Robinson punted the ball down the field. The punt was passed by Lucas Knox to Josh Del Valle who scored for his first goal of the season in the 51st minute. The Prairie Fire held the Scots for the remainder of the game but were unable to score, giving up the game 1-0 to the Fighting Scots.

The Prairie Fire will take on Cornell College at home tomorrow, September 27th at 3:30 p.m.

MacMurray College at Knox College - September 20, 2009
The Prairie Fire men's soccer team won their first game of the season 2-1 in double overtime against the MacMurray Highlanders. It was a tough fought, physical game where the Prairie Fire scored first just three minutes into the game when senior Jeff Wozencraft (Arlington Heights, IL - Buffalo Grove) fed the ball to senior Jared Jaggers (Princeton, IL - Princeton). The Prairie Fire held the Highlanders until the 30th minute when Anthony Pagano passed the ball to Chris Bledsoe who scored for the Highlanders.

The game continued tied until the second overtime when with just 55.5 seconds left to go sophomore Jeremy Shaw (Columbus, OH - Franklin Heights) got the ball to senior Lawrence Povoas (Brazilia, Brazil - American School of Brasilia), who determined to score, managed to get through the defenders and score, giving Knox their first victory.

The Prairie Fire will travel to Lincoln, IL to take on Lincoln Christian College this coming Wednesday, September 23, at 4 p.m. The Prairie Fire will look to feed off today's win and bring home their second victory.

Knox College at Ashford University - September 19, 2009
The Prairie Fire men's soccer team took on Ashford University in Clinton, IA. Ashford scored first just two minutes into the game and continued their relentless attack for the rest of the game. The game ended Knox 0, Ashford 8. Senior goal keeper Max Miller (Oakland, CA - Lions Bishop) had 14 saves for the Prairie Fire in 90 minutes of play.

The Prairie Fire will return home to take on MacMurray College tomorrow, Sunday, September 20 at 3:30 p.m.

North Central College at Knox College - September 11, 2009
The Prairie Fire men's soccer team came out strong as they scored in the sixth minute as senior Jeff Wozencraft (Arlington Heights - Buffalo Grove) had a shot on goal that was saved by North Central's goalie only to be put in by Prairie Fire senior Jared Jaggers (Princeton, IL - Princeton). North Central came back to score two before first year Rishabh Singh (Singapore - Doon School) scored unassisted. Unfortunately the Cardinals were able to pull out the win as they held Knox scoreless in the second half and scored four more of their own.

The Prairie Fire will travel to Clinton, IA to take on Ashford University on September 19 at 2 p.m.

Knox College at Eureka College - September 9, 2009
The Prairie Fire men's soccer team lost a difficult game to Eureka College. Eureka's Brian O'Malley scored in the first 15 minutes in a one-on-one face-off with senior goalie Max Miller (Oakland, CA - Lions Bishop). Knox held the Red devils for the next 10 minutes but were unable to continue to do so as the Red Devils managed to score eight more times before the end of the game. First year Donald Tchoypa led the Prairie Fire going four for four with shots on goal. Unfortunately Eureka's goalie was able to stop them to keep Knox goalless.

The Prairie Fire will take on North Central College at home on Friday at 4 p.m.

Coe College at Knox College - September 6, 2009
The Prairie Fire men's soccer team took on Coe College at home in their second game of the season. The Prairie Fire held the Kohawks for the first 25 minutes and did not allow them to score. However, in the 26th minute Coe's David Schmitz scored off a long shot to the top left hand corner and the half ended Knox 0, Coe 1.

Coe came out shooting after the half and the Prairie Fire team was unable to match them as they scored three more before the end of the game. Senior goalkeeper Max Miller (Oakland, CA - Lions Bishop) recorded 13 saves for the Prairie Fire while allowing four goals in 25 shots.

The Prairie Fire men will go on the road for the first time this season as they travel to Eureka College on Wednesday, September 9th for a game at 4 p.m.


Benedictine University at Knox College - September 4, 2009
The Prairie Fire men's soccer team dropped their home opener to the Benedictine University Eagles by a score of 4-2. The Prairie Fire led 2-1 until the 72 minute when Jeff Bernstein found the back of the net for the Eagles. The Eagles would cruise from there, adding two more goals in the final eight minutes to put the game away.

Scoring goals for the Prairie Fire were Donald Tchoypa (San Francisco, CA/Galileo), on a header from the foot of Alex Vaassen (Galesburg, IL/Galesburg HS), and Loli Povoas (Brasilia, Brazil/American School of Brasilia), who scored off a pass from Oliver Horton (Denver, CO/Hanover HS).

The Prairie Fire will look to rebound at home on Sunday against Coe College at home.