After being locked at 0-0 for 84 minutes, a late goal from freshman forward Vance Sheffield was the difference in the Huskies (1-0-1) 1-0 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix (0-1).
“Obviously delighted to get the first win of the season,” said NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan. “I thought we were good today. I think we were well worthy of the win. I thought we were the more dangerous team. Created some good opportunities, but I think this year there’s a little more belief in the final third. Even as things were ticking towards the end at 0-0, I think there’s still that belief that we’re going to go find something in the end. It was a fantastic finish from us to win it.”
The Huskies efforts on both ends of the field led them to their first win of the season, shutting out a future conference opponent and the first-place team in the Horizon League pre-season poll.
With 2 saves, junior goalkeeper Atahan Arslan recorded his fourth career shutout. In addition to his stops in goal, Swan emphasized Arslan’s leadership and how it impacts players across the field.
“He’s a good leader,” Swan said of Arslan. “He’s nonstop communicating whether it’s his defenders or the midfield line, he stays on top of them. I think he’s just really focused through the entire 90 minutes and then his composure on the ball as well. He really helps us when it comes to starting our attacks, he’s often the one who starts with the ball. He’s a good leader and he’s done fantastic.”
The Huskies led the Phoenix in both shots and shots on goal, with redshirt sophomore midfielder Joe Hernandez leading the way with 5 shots for NIU.
NIU ended the night with 14 shots, six of which were on goal, while Green Bay made 10 attempts, 2 of which were on target.
Despite NIU’s number of chances, Phoenix redshirt freshman goalkeeper Philip Oesterbaek recorded 5 saves, keeping the Huskies scoreless for a majority of the game.
Sheffield broke through in the 85th minute off a cross from senior midfielder Jose Gomez, heading the ball past Oesterbaek’s fingertips for the lone goal for the Huskies.
“Vance is one of those where we knew there was a lot of potential there,” Swan said. “We just wondered how long it would take for him to settle into our style of play and the speed of the game.”
On Sheffield’s mentality, Swan praised the inquisitive nature with which he plays.
“He came in really fit, his mentality is fantastic and one of the best things about Vance is he’s always got good questions, he wants to know what he can be doing,” Swan said. “He’ll come and speak to us during the course of the game or halftime to make sure he knows exactly what his roles and responsibilities are, so we’ve been delighted with him.”
The Huskies play their first home game of the season Thursday at 5 p.m. at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex against the Western Illinois University Leathernecks. Live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Sports.
