NIU men’s soccer has wrapped up a disappointing season, ending with a 3-12-1 (1-6-1 MVC) record and sitting in last place of the Missouri Valley Conference standings.
Throughout the season, the Huskies looked like a vastly different team from last year. Last season, the Huskies eclipsed the MVC tournament, ultimately losing to Western Michigan University in the championship tournament semifinals.
The Huskies struggled in all aspects of the game, the perfect recipe for a three-win season.
Two goalkeepers saw action for the Huskies, allowing a combined 45 goals. Redshirt freshman Caleb Pearson played in 9 matches and allowed 31 goals, an average of 3.48 per match. Sophomore Atahan Arslan was in goal for 8 matches, allowing 14 goals. Pearson totaled 30 saves while Arslan recorded 28.
Combined, allowing 2.81 goals per match is not the road to success. Both the defense and goalkeeping needs to be better next season if NIU wants to succeed.
As is the case for most team sports, the fault is not on one person. While the goalkeeping could have been better, Pearson and Arslan needed more support from their defenders. Of the 103 shots on goal faced, NIU allowed 45 into the net. 103 is a lot of shots to allow on goal, and the person in goal can only do so much once the defenders allow the ball to get that far.
Things on the offensive end of the pitch weren’t all that better, with NIU being outscored 45-20 by opponents.
Sophomore forward Sam Divis led all Huskies in scoring with 4 goals, followed by junior midfielder Jose Gomez with three. Gomez also led the Huskies in assists with five. Senior forward Kevin Kelly produced 3 goals and 11 shots on goal for NIU, leading the team in chances on target.
The Huskies were outshot 231-157 this season, which is embarrassing for an offense with talented players. Also, scoring 20 goals in a season is not going to get a team very far.
Looking at chances created, the numbers don’t look much better. Of the 157 shots that the Huskies took, less than half were on goal. 76 shots on goal is not enough to pressure an opponent’s defense and force mistakes. Even the most talented goalies are bound to make mistakes, but those chances are eliminated when they aren’t forced to make plays on the ball.
The most goals scored by NIU was in its second match of the season against Chicago State University, when they scored four in the win.
The second half of the season was better for the offense, but worse for the defense. The Huskies more than doubled their 6 goals in the first half of matches to 14 goals in the second half. NIU held opponents to 21 goals in the first half, while allowing 24 in the second half. Finding the balance between pressing and defending was something the Huskies appeared to be missing. While scoring more in the second half, they also let up defensively and allowed more into the net.
While a 3-goal differential between the first and second half of the season might not sound like a lot, the Huskies lost six matches by 1 goal. A shift in the defensive energy throughout the course of the season could have done this team a lot of good.
This NIU men’s soccer team had a lot of talented players and potential to have success rivaling that of the 2023 season but severely underperformed. Adjustments in every aspect are needed to come out stronger in 2025 and hopefully have a more successful season.
