Men’s soccer falters in second straight shutout

By Zachary Bertram, Senior Sports Reporter

September 25, 2023

Huskie junior forward Taisei Arima rushes the ball upfield during NIU men’s soccer’s Missouri Valley Conference opener against Missorui State on Sept. 16. The Huskies lost the game by a final score of 3-0. (Scott Walstrom | NIU Athletics)

DeKALB – Two late goals from Evansville (3-4-2, 1-1 MVC) powered the Purple Aces to a 2-0 victory over NIU men’s soccer (2-6, 0-2 MVC) Saturday.

Saturday’s loss was the Huskies’ fourth consecutive loss and their second straight game being shutout. Both teams struggled offensively early as the score was knotted at 0-0 after the first half.

Evansville junior forward Kai Phillip got the scoring started to put Purple Aces on the board with a goal in the 52nd minute. Phillip scored once again in the 86th minute to take a 2-0 lead and seal the win.

Despite being shutout, junior forward Zachariah Thomas led the Huskies with three shots. Junior forward Taisei Arima added two shots, one of which being on goal.

“I can’t believe we lost that game,” said NIU head coach Ryan Swan via NIU Athletics. “I thought we dominated every phase up until the final third. We gave the ball away on two counterattack goals, we missed a penalty. I thought we did everything in our buildup, our possession, got ourselves into great positions in the final third and our decision making and execution in that final phase of the game was not where it needs to be.”

Evansville led NIU in both shots and shots on goal. The Purple Aces outshot the Huskies 14-9 and held the shots on goal advantage 11-2.

NIU senior goalkeeper Jakub Rojek faced 14 shots and notched eight saves. Evansville graduate goalkeeper Jacob Madden saved two shots while shutting out the Huskies.

“The difference between the two teams today is Evansville has a player that has something like six goals on the season, when he had the opportunity in front of goal, he has taken them tonight,” Swan said via NIU Athletics. “We have put ourselves in position, we know we have the quality in the team, but when you aren’t winning and aren’t scoring it becomes difficult. I think we are overthinking and a little bit slow in our execution, it probably just takes someone scoring, and taking that responsibility, to relieve the pressure on everybody.”

NIU’s next game will be against Loyola University Chicago at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The game will be streamed via NIU All-Access, and live stats will be available via SideArm Stats.