With four Huskies scoring their first goal in a NIU uniform, NIU men’s soccer bounced back from a 1-0 defeat in the season opener with a 4-2 win over the Chicago State University Cougars.
NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan touched on the difference between this match and the loss against St. Thomas University.
“We talked about it at the end, I think there was a little more swagger to the team.” Swan said. “I think there was a little bit more confidence. I think we were lacking that on Thursday. There just seemed to be a little more confidence. I don’t know if that was in response to a poor performance on Thursday or what it was, but I think we looked a lot more like we would like to.”
In a first half with almost equal possession time, the Huskies were able to more than double the shot opportunities of the Cougars. NIU created eight shot opportunities before junior midfielder Jose Gomez found the back of the net off an assist from freshman midfielder Martin Montoya.
“First goal was exciting,” Gomez said. “The group of people and the crowd and the teammates is a great environment, and we just keep going everyday. This week was a great week, we worked hard in training, and we got the results.”
Two saves from redshirt freshman goalkeeper Caleb Pearson, as well as saves from CSU senior goalkeeper Lucas Fontana left the match locked at 1-0 Huskie at the halftime break.
The Huskies continued to create opportunities in the second half, forcing Fontana to make a save in the 46th minute. NIU continued its attack, with Montoya finding the upper left corner of the net in the 63rd minute.
“Martin Montoya, a freshman, brought a big chunk of [the team’s confidence],” Swan said. “He got the assist on the first one and scored the second one. He just went out and looked confident in it.”
Montoya explained the emotion and excitement between scoring his first goal for NIU.
“First regular season game and minutes, scoring my first collegiate goal and getting an assist too,” Montoya said. “Had some fun with the team, everyone is happy and emotions are high. It’s a big confidence boost for me, coming in as a freshman and watching these guys play and getting to come in and play, compete, and celebrate with them.”
The Huskies struck twice more before conceding a goal, with junior forward William Mugisha and junior midfielder Jaephil Seo adding to the lead in the 72nd and 79th minutes respectively.
Coming out of the halftime break with a renewed energy, Chicago State challenged the Huskie defense and scored on Pearson. In the 82nd minute, junior forward Hilary Odhiambo got the Cougars on the board. Shortly after, in the 84th minute, senior forward Danail Sergiev cut NIU’s lead in half.
Swan looks forward to the team’s next match and what he would like to see from the squad.
“At the start of the second half, Chicago State was really aggressive in the pressing,” Swan said. “It kind of threw us off our game a little bit, and I’d like us to maintain our composure and confidence on the ball. When we play Memphis in our next game, they went to the national tournament last year, so they’re going to be very good. We’re going to have to be confident when we have the ball.”
NIU men’s soccer returns to action on the road at 7 p.m. Thursday against the University of Memphis at the Billy J. Murphy Soccer/Track & Field Complex in Memphis, Tennessee. The match will be live streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be provided via StatsBroadcast.
