Despite creating double the shot opportunities of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Roos (2-0-2), NIU men’s soccer (2-1-1) earned its first loss of the season against the No. 19-ranked team in the nation.
‘I was very happy with how we played for the majority of the game,” said NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan. “I thought, especially in the first half, we were excellent and created a lot of good opportunities and were taking care of the ball pretty well. We made two big mistakes in there and we were punished for those. Kansas City is nationally ranked right now and against these teams that are doing well, when you make mistakes, you’ll be punished.”
The Roos got on the board first, striking in the 7th minute when junior forward Jeremy Francou found the lower left side of the net.
Scoring his first goal of the season, sophomore midfielder Grant Paskus leveled the score for the Huskies in the 19th minute. Sophomore forward Katai Mukuka sent the cross to Paskus, who sent the ball past the reach of Kansas City freshman goalkeeper Marc Popow.
“I thought it was excellent,” Swan said of the goal. “He (Paskus) played the ball down at Katai (Mukuka), who was having a lot of success down our right-hand side. Katai (Mukuka) beat his man and picked out Grant (Paskus), who’d after playing that pass in, made a fantastic run to the top of the box. I think it was probably Grant’s best performance for us.”
Paskus has been playing in a defensive role for the Huskies so far this season, but Swan expects to see more goals from the midfielder.
“We’ve been asking Grant (Paskus) to do a little more of a defensive job this year, so he doesn’t get as many goals or looks at goal as I know he’d like,” Swan said. “I think he’s been trying to shoulder a lot of responsibilities, and maybe playing with a little more pressure on himself. He just went a little freer, a little better today. I was very happy with it and I suspect that he will be scoring more goals this year.”
Just before the half, Francou put the Roos ahead when he found the bottom left of the net for the second time in the first 45.
The Huskies led Kansas City in shots created during the first half, creating 12 while limiting the Roos to just three.
The second half saw 6 shots from each side, with the Huskies failing to find the back of the net for a draw.
Makuka led the team in shots with five, while senior midfielder Jose Gomez created three opportunities of his own.
Junior goalkeeper Atahan Arslan recorded 2 saves and allowed two into the back of the net, while the Huskies forced Papow to keep five of their shots out of the net.
“We were playing very confidently on the ball and I thought we were moving it very well,” Swan said. “We got in a lot of really good spots, but I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence. I think there’s a lot of really positive things we can take from this game as we move forward and into the upcoming matches.”
The Huskies return to action at 5 p.m. on Tuesday against Indiana University Indianapolis at Michael A. Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis. Live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Sports.
