GRINNELL, Iowa – Knox College may have entered Tuesday's contest as the defending Midwest Conference champion and preseason league favorite in 2022.
 
But those facts didn't faze the Grinnell College men's soccer team in the slightest, as the Pioneers used a dominating second half to break a scoreless tie for a 1-0 victory at Springer Field.
 
Grinnell (5-4, 2-0 MWC) improved to 2-0 in league play for the first time since 2016 while snapping a three-match losing streak to the Prairie Fire dating back to 2018.
 
Knox (2-8, 1-1 MWC) outshot Grinnell 7-3 in the first 45 minutes, but the Pioneers didn't break. Thanks to solid defense and handy keeper work by Carter Benson '24, Grinnell went into intermission tied with the visitors.
 
Grinnell caught fire immediately in the second half, as Dylan Maddux '25 found the back of the net just three minutes in on an assist by Jaxon Willoughby '26. Maddux possessed the ball just outside the box and worked it to Willoughby on his left. Willoughby approached the goal and delivered back to Maddux, who beat his defender with a slick move and tapped the ball in past the Knox keeper from 5 yards out.
 
It was the second goal of the season for Maddux and fourth of his career. The assist was Willoughby's team-high fourth of 2022.
 
Not only did Grinnell own the second half offensively, outshooting the Prairie Fire 9-3 for an overall edge of 12-10, but also continued its stellar defense. Benson, with four saves on the day, collected his third solo shutout of the season as the Pioneers got their fourth overall.
 
Maddux led Grinnell in shots with four, including three on goal, while Noah Guyton '23 had three shots and Willoughby two. Taking one shot each were Matias Bambi '23, Alex Liu Nowakoski '26 and Corbin Bodamer '26.
 
The Pioneers have some time off before entertaining Cornell College next Tuesday at Springer Field. Action begins at 4:30 p.m.