NIU men’s soccer (2-6, 0-1 MVC) was shut out by the Western Illinois University Leathernecks (4-3-1) in a 4-0 loss.
Western Illinois freshman forward/midfielder Ty Daux found the back of the net for the Leathernecks in the 10th minute, putting the Huskies down early.
The Huskies created 2 shots in the first half and allowed Western Illinois to create 7 opportunities.
In the last 20 minutes of the match, the Leathernecks scored three more goals to put the stamp on the Huskies’ loss. Freshman forward/midfielder Tyler Philpott sent the ball past Huskie redshirt freshman goalkeeper Caleb Pearson in the 70th minute.
The Huskies had a chance to cut the deficit in the 68th minute when NIU earned a free kick, taken by freshman defender Tom Dahlin, who sent the ball bouncing off the crossbar.
In the 82nd minute, Leatherneck sophomore forward Diego Porras scored another one for Western Illinois, gathering the ball after an NIU turnover.
To seal the win, Western Illinois senior midfielder Jimmy Baars found the upper corner of the net to put the Huskies down 4-0.
Despite 11 shots in the second half for NIU, for a total of 13 shots and 7 on goal, freshman goalkeeper Alexis Michaud recorded 7 saves for the Leathernecks, while allowing nothing into the net.
Pearson recorded 3 saves for the Huskies in the loss.
“In the second half, we controlled a large portion of the game, the first 25-30 minutes of the half, but didn’t score,” said NIU head coach Ryan Swan via NIU Athletics. “There were a number of self-inflicted wounds, and we are obviously bitterly disappointed.”
NIU rounds out non-conference play at 7 p.m. Tuesday against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaulkee at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex in DeKalb. Live stats will be available on SideArm Stats and NIU All Access will have a live stream.
