The Saints pressured Knox into a 43-3 shot advantage, scored off a pair of corner kicks and had six different players find the net.
AU has held the opposition scoreless in roughly 480 minutes dating back to a second-half goal yielded against Coe College (Sept. 1). The Saints have only given up three goals all year, with two coming on a penalty kick and the other ricocheting off the inside post.
"It's not a glory position in the back, but our defense deserves props because I know that if we can score a goal, that lead is going to be safe," AU Head Coach Richard Markham said.
Junior transfer Vedran Ilic of Rockford, Ill., assisted three goals while Soroush Kalhor of Rock Island, Ill., and Rafael Machado of Sao Paulo, Brazil, each added a goal and two assists.
Senior Edwin Enriquez of Quito, Ecuador, scored his first goal of the year and reigning MCC Offensive Player of the Week Nick De Backer of Antwerp, Belgium, put away his third goal of 2009.
"We've really done a good job at eliminating the silly mistakes as far as letting our guard down and letting the offense get in behind us," Markham added. "We can manufacture goals from anywhere and trying to hit our stride on offense because we're coming into the heart of our schedule."
Garza scored his first of three goals just over two minutes into the game with two of them coming off of corner kicks from Kalhor. He last scored in the Saints' rout against Calumet College of St. Joseph and unofficially had a goal in an exhibition match against Carl Sandburg College.
"It felt good to get the hat trick today and it really just came down to adjusting to the field," Garza said. "Coach (Markham) wanted us to come out and attack for the first 15 minutes and we were able to get some good runs. As a team, we played really well today and we're just looking to continue to build confidence."
The Saints quick-strike offense was on display again to open the second half as Machado scored just over a minute in. Garza followed with his third goal and AU kept the heat on Knox goalkeeper Max Miller, who recorded 14 saves.
Junior defender Matt Escoto of Geneseo, Ill., converted a penalty kick after De Backer drew a foul in the box to cap off the scoring and assisted Garza's third goal. Freshman Uriah Yates of St. Joseph, Mo., had a goal negated in the second half because of an offsides call.
Sophomore goalkeeper Daniel James of Nottingham, England, made his first career start in net and came away with a shutout. James was the beneficiary of another fine defensive effort by the Saints, facing three shots in the game while making a save.
James was originally scheduled to make his first collegiate start in next Wednesday's matchup at Cornell College, but found out Thursday he'd been summoned to start in goal for today's game.
"It was a great to get my first collegiate start under my belt and the defense made it that much easier," James said. "Communication was really good and we were able to play some good balls down the line that turned into goals. Before I felt like I would come in and give up a goal, so it's a really good boost for my confidence."
The Saints are focused on Cornell College next Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. as a pair of pivotal games against nationally ranked Graceland University and Viterbo University loom ahead next weekend.
"The scary thing is we're 6-0-1 and our top three goal scorers are not peaking yet or playing to the full potential yet which is a concern because you want them to get going," Markham said. "They got on the scoreboard today, but we need to get into a flow and let them capitalize on more opportunities."
