Knox College Gender and Women's Studies issued the following announcement on Nov. 17
The Prairie Fire women’s and men’s soccer teams just concluded the latest in a string of successful seasons. Both teams won regular-season Midwest Conference championships, hosted the Midwest Conference Tournaments, and finished with a myriad of impressive records and awards.
The Prairie Fire women's soccer team finished with a perfect record of 8-0 in the regular-season conference and won their first game of the MWC tournament. In the tournament’s championship game, the Prairie Fire tied 0-0 with Beloit but the Buccaneers advanced after a shootout. Soon after that, senior Lydia Mitchell was recognized as the 2021 MWC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year with First Team All-Conference honors. In addition, seniors Deborah Bonales and Olivia Grierson joined Mitchell on the all-conference First Team, while senior Emma Art and first-year Louise Schoeffel made the Second Team.
Knox is the first team in league history to have five consecutive regular-season MWC Championships.
Learn more about Women’s Soccer at Knox.
The men’s soccer team also excelled during the 2021 season, finishing with a 12-7-0 record and winning its third regular-season MWC Championship in the last four seasons and its sixth overall.
The Knox Prairie Fire men's team won the conference tournament, and that victory earned the team a spot in the NCAA tournament, where they lost to No. 6 Ohio Wesleyan, 1-0. Ohio Wesleyan has two Division III national championships to their credit and made their 42nd NCAA Division III Tournament appearance.
The team’s appearance in the conference tournament marked the eighth consecutive time it has played in the tournament.
“We battled all year long and it came down to the wire again,” said head coach Brian O'Connor. “We held a very good team to a single goal and they didn't score until the very end. I am proud of the fight our guys put up this game and all year.”
Several Knox players were selected to the 2021 Midwest Conference (MWC) Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams. The Prairie Fire had four First Team selections: seniors Raleigh Berry, Lucas Piqueras, and Martin Garcia, and sophomore Nicolas Lantzendorffer. Sophomore Alex White represented Knox on the Second Team.
Original source can be found here.
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