FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

GALESBURG, Ill. (Sep. 11, 2009) -- Fueled by a two-goal performance from Nico Galto, the North Central College men's soccer team had its best offensive output of the season, piling on six goals in a 6-2 non-conference rout of host Knox College at Jorge Prats Field.

The host Prairie Fire struck first, netting the game's first goal in the seventh minute with Jared Jaggers scoring after the Cardinals failed to corral the initial shot by Jeff Wozencraft. North Central would not trail for long with Galto netting the equalizer just under a minute later. Michael Curtis pushed the Cardinal lead to 2-1 in the 17th minute, scoring off a Micah Melendrez pass before the pesky Prairie Fire tied the game in the 20th minute off a Singh Rishabh shot.

Galto would strike once more in the first half, scoring on a header in the 42nd minute off a Ryan Carroll pass, giving the visitors the 3-2 edge heading into the locker room at half.

The second half would be all Cardinals, with #T.J. Simmons# recording his first collegiate goal in the 54th minute, finding the back of the net with Melendrez notching his second assist of the afternoon. A Curtis feed set up a Pete Zimmerman score in the 62nd minute while Hayden Fleming accounted for the game's final score, hitting a pass from Galin Stoykov in the 88th minute.

Phillip Klipp logged in 66 minutes in goal, making five saves before giving way to Mike McEvoy, who made one save in the game's final 24 minutes. Knox's Max Miller faced a barrage of shots all afternoon, making nine saves while yielding all six goals.

The team's six goals was the biggest offensive output since Sep. 8, 2008 when the team thrashed North Central University (Minn.) 6-0.

The Cardinals improve to 2-3 with the win while the Prairie Fire suffer their fourth loss in as many games. North Central returns to the pitch on Sunday, September 13, facing the University of Dubuque at Oyen Field in Dubuque, Iowa.