GALESBURG, Ill. – The Augustana Vikings men's soccer team traveled Wednesday evening for a non-conference battle with Knox, falling 4-0 to the Prairie Fire. 

Knox applied early pressure with five shots sent toward the Augie net in the opening 20 minutes of play, but keeper Ignacio Alberola made two key saves to hold the home team scoreless. Mentisnot Hailu responded at 29:53 with his own take, but it sailed just high of the goal. The two teams deadlocked in a defensive battle for the remainder of the period to keep the game scoreless entering the break. 

The Prairie Fire wasted little time breaking the stalemate out of the locker room, sending in a successful strike at 46:15 to move the score to 1-0. Around the 60-minute mark, Ethan Wheeler and Ben Statz saw shot opportunities, but neither connected as the Vikings remained scoreless. Knox traversed the length of the field just moments later and sent in their second strike of the game. At 77:29, the Prairie Fire converted a penalty kick opportunity before sending in a fourth goal with just over five minutes to play to push the game to its 4-0 final.

Augustana had three players register a shot attempt, while Alberola notched four saves in 90 minutes of action. 

The Vikings will return home on Sunday, September 10 to face the Central Dutch at Thorson-Lucken Field, with kickoff slated for 4:30 p.m.