After being outshot 11-22, NIU men’s soccer (5-8-1, 2-4-1 MVC) was defeated in a 2-0 shutout loss by the University of Illinois Chicago Flames (9-4-3, 4-2-2 MVC). 

NIU remains in possession of the sixth spot in MVC standings as the team looks to earn a berth to the championship tournament.

The Huskies had 3 shots in the first half, and another 8 in the second half. 5 of the shots taken by NIU were on goal, while the Flames created 7 shots on goal. 

The first goal for UIC came in the 11th minute from junior forward Joshua Torres. In the 68th minute, junior forward Bart Muns doubled the lead for the Flames.

Junior forward Taisei Arima led the Huskies with 3 shots in 44 minutes played. Senior midfielder Camilo Estrada and sophomore forward Taylor Davis each took 2 shots. 

“In the second half, we had some big chances,” Arima said. “We couldn’t score. We could have won this game, but we just couldn’t score.”

Senior goalkeeper Jakub Rojek notched 5 saves while allowing 2 goals. Flames graduate student goalkeeper Oren Asher recorded 4 saves in the shutout. 

Rojek explained the thought process of the team both before and during matches. 

“The mindset before the game is to win,” Rojek said. “We want to make the Missouri Valley tournament. We’re at a point where every win is crucial for us, so the mindset coming in is to win. In the game where we conceded first and were down 1-0, the mindset still stays the same. It’s just to keep the game as close as possible to get a draw or even a late win. Regardless of if that happens or not, the goal is to keep making the saves and hoping that we can score.”

NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan defended his goalkeeper. 

“I don’t think that Rojek was at fault for either of the goals,” Swan said. “The first one was a really good cross from their kid, and the strikers got in front of our defender to finish it. The second one was a deflected effort, and there was little to no chance of saving it. I thought that Rojek had some good saves in there.”

Moving forward to the final match of the regular season against Bowling Green State University, Swan explained what he wants to improve on offensively. 

“Offensively, it’s really just a little more confidence,” Swan said. “We’ve got to be a little cleaner on the ball. I think we were in the second half. Against a good opponent, you can’t just play for 45 minutes. We’ve got to figure out how to address it from the very beginning.”

NIU is back home at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Huskies take on Bowling Green State University at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The game will be streamed on NIU All-Access, and live stats will be available via SideArm Stats