Galesburg High School
Soccer: Galesburg 1, Pekin 0
The Silver Streak boys soccer team got back on the road to a .500 season after a testy 1-0 home victory over Pekin on Oct. 11.
Galesburg had won three in a row before losing to Quincy last week. The tight win against Pekin moves the team to 7-8-1 with three regular-season games to play.
“Unfortunately, the game got brought into a very physical one, and we kind of talked earlier in the season about trying to play out of that physicality by playing in holes, and we just weren’t as effective today at doing that,” coach Phil Redington said after the game. “And that resulted in a bit of an uglier play on our end. You know, sometimes it’s just, you’ve got to win ugly.”
Anthony Makwala scored the only goal of the match about halfway through the second half. He agreed that it wasn’t particularly well played.
“I just thought that we didn’t play to the best of our ability, especially passing-wise,” Makwala said. “Things were too one-touch, and we just didn’t have confidence on the ball as much as I would have loved. But I think we came back in the second half, and we worked on that, we talked on that, and it started moving a little bit smoother.”
Two of the team’s next three games will be away. They are at Orion on Oct. 13, at home Oct. 14 for senior night against Rock Island, then finish the regular season Oct. 15 at Sterling.
“A bang, bang, bang kind of situation with three games to wrap up the regular season,” Redington said. “Really, we’re just trying to stay healthy and find some success within our movement.
“A lot of the year has been focused on getting the freshmen and sophomores up to the same speed as the seniors, and I think that these last few games, even in this situation where it was tough, the freshmen and sophomores are starting to play like sophomores and juniors, and that’s the progress that we’re looking for, just trying to close the gap between the youngest and the oldest.”
Makwala said he was excited about heading into the regional and his team’s chances.
“We just have to go out there with the mentality that we are the best, that we want it more than the other guys, and we’re going to hustle every ball,” he said. “Most of soccer is mentality. The rest is just how you’re going to play it out. If we have the mental edge over the teams that we’re going to play, we’re going to do just fine.”
Volleyball: Galesburg loses two, goes 4-0 at Dixon Invite
United Township dropped the Silver Streaks in two sets in Galesburg on Oct. 7. The Panthers won 25-18, 25-23.
Taylor Adams had an ace and six kills for the Streaks, Eveling Guel had 10 assists, Grace Herchenroder led in digs, and Adams and Ava Marty had two blocks each.
Galesburg fell to Quincy in two sets in a home loss Oct. 9. The Blue Devils won 25-21, 25-15.
Taylor Herchenroder had 13 assists and led the team in digs; Marty contributed eight kills.
At the Dixon Invite on Oct. 11, the Streaks defeated Naperville Central 2-1, Dixon 2-1, Oak Forest 2-0 and Yorkville Christian 2-1.
“We played so well and overcame being down in three matches and won,” coach Nicole Kisler said. “I’m so proud of these girls.”
The Streaks’ season record is now 11-13 with a busy week ahead. They play at Dunlap on Oct. 13, at home Oct. 14 against Geneseo, at Sterling Oct. 16 and at the Limestone Classic on Oct. 18.
Carl Sandburg College
Cross country: Sandburg men, women win Arrowhead title
The Sandburg cross country teams claimed men’s and women’s titles and had a pair of runners earn all-conference honors at the Arrowhead Conference Championships on Saturday at Catlin Park in Ottawa.
Andrew Peterson was the men’s runner-up, and Linda Koech was fourth among women to earn all-conference accolades for the Chargers.
Sandburg edged Illinois Valley by a point (27-28) to win the women’s 5-kilometer team title. Koech, the defending conference champion, led three Chargers women in the top 10.
Koech finished in a season-best 22:36 to earn the fourth of five spots on the all-conference team. Faith Rotch just missed out on earning an All-Arrowhead nod, placing sixth with a personal record of 23:51. Sheila Cheruiyot was eighth in 25:24, also a season PR.
Sauk Valley’s Kaylee Sweikar took the individual women’s title with a time of 21:28, winning by 50 seconds.
Peterson’s second-place run of 27:19 in the men’s 8K was his best time of the season. Finn Martin was sixth for Sandburg in 33:16 to finish just outside of the all-conference team.
Mathew Kotut (seventh place, 33:18) and Mathias Kiprotich (ninth, 33:39) turned in personal bests and placed in the top 10 for the Chargers.
Sauk Valley’s Charles Link was the men’s champion with a time of 26:57, beating Peterson by 22 seconds.
The next meet for both teams will be Oct. 25 at the Region 4 Championships in Geneva.
Volleyball: Chargers lose two at Madison Quad
The Sandburg volleyball team dropped a pair of matches as it took on two of the top teams in Region 4 on Oct. 10 at the Madison Quad in Madison, Wisconsin.
Sandburg opened with a sweep at the hands of Milwaukee Area Technical, which came into the day with a 13-3 region record. The Chargers then lost in straight sets to host Madison, which is 10-0 in the region and ranked 18th in NJCAA Division II.
Milwaukee Area Technical won its match 25-19, 25-21, 25-16. Charger leaders in kills were Abigail Shaffer (7), Harlee Hainds (5) and Emma Schweigert (5). Quinn Rexroat led in assists with 19, and Addison Gillen had 15 digs.
Madison defeated Sandburg 25-13, 25-14, 25-14. Hainds led the Chargers in kills with six; Rexroat had 16 assists; Gillen and Shaffer had 14 and 11 digs, respectively.
Up next, the Chargers will be at Illinois Valley on Oct. 15.
Men’s soccer: Sandburg 1, Moraine Valley 1
The Sandburg men’s soccer team saw its win streak end but kept its unbeaten run intact with a 1-1 draw at Moraine Valley in a Region 4 matchup Oct. 11.
The Chargers (9-2-3) came into the contest having won six straight games. The draw pushed their streak without a loss to nine contests. Sandburg’s last defeat came Sept. 8 at Truman.
The Cyclones opened the scoring with a goal in the 20th minute by Diego Ochoa.
Sandburg responded later in the first half as Jaime Martin Caballero set up Luis Egea for a goal in the 35th minute to even the score. It marked the second goal of the season for Egea.
The Chargers will host Illinois Valley at 3 p.m. Oct. 14.
Knox College
Football: Knox 20, Grinnell 17
Cornerback Colin Finnigsmier picked off a pass in the end zone with 44 seconds remaining, securing a 20-17 Prairie Fire (2-3, 2-2 Midwest Conference) homecoming victory over visiting Grinnell (1-4, 1-3 MWC) on Oct. 11.
Knox never trailed and opened up a 20-10 advantage with 8:37 left in the game on a 1-yard dive into the end zone by junior Izayiah Hawes, capping a 15-play, 76-yard drive that ate up more than eight minutes.
Quarterback Reese Miller finished the day 10-of-18 passing for 122 yards and ran for 56 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. Hawes led the Prairie Fire running game with 66 yards on 20 carries.
Brown led the Prairie Fire defense with eight tackles, while Grinnell’s Luke Konczal recorded 20 stops.
Knox has its next two games on the road, starting with a trip to Illinois College (3-2, 2-2 MWC) on Oct. 18. The Blueboys lost 48-15 at Monmouth on Oct. 11.
Volleyball: Knox 3, Beloit 1
With season highs of 53 kills, a .218 attack percentage and 13 service aces, the Knox College volleyball team brushed off visiting Beloit College in four sets, 27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-15, on homecoming weekend, Oct. 11.
Junior Elle Haddon led a balanced attack for the Prairie Fire (3-19, 1-1 Midwest Conference) with a dozen kills, while sophomore Zoe Thunhurst added a double-double of 10 kills and a team-high 21 digs.
Knox will play its Dig Pink match next when it hosts Webster University (5-13) at 7 p.m. Oct. 14.