DeKALB — NIU’s men’s soccer team (3-3-1) suffered their third loss of the season to the Eastern Illinois University Panthers (1-3-1) in a five-goal, 3-2 thriller on Tuesday night. A combination of defensive lapses, solid goalkeeping and lack of clinical finishing was ultimately the Huskies’ downfall as the Panthers picked up their first win of the season.
“I mean, it’s incredible we’ve thrown that game away,” said NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan. “Their keeper made some fantastic saves and we missed when we should have capitalized, but the goals we conceded today have been really disappointing.”
The Huskies held the majority of possession early on allowing them to control tempo and pin the Panthers into their half. Still, NIU could not find a clear chance in open-play and EIU did well to absorb the high intensity.
In the 22nd minute, the Panthers defense recovered a ball in their half and successfully strung together passes up the field. An over the top through ball reached senior midfielder Casey Welage where he dribbled past the last defender for a one-on-one situation against junior goalkeeper Atahan Arslan. Welage lobbed it over a towering Arslan into the right side of the goal to make it 1-0.
Just three minutes later, a stunned NIU team were forced into their own half by a determined EIU offense. A throw-in from the left side resulted in a sloppy sequence for this NIU defense where they failed to clear a cross. Arslan was able to get a hand on the low cross but the rebound fell to EIU junior midfielder Shion Hayashi who calmly drove the ball into the low left corner, making it 2-0.
As a response, midfielder duo, including sophomore Martin Montoya and freshman Niko Ladas were subbed in to spark some life into NIU’s attack but Panthers defense continued to effectively shut down NIU’s attacking option for the remainder of the half.
“My mentality personally coming off the bench is just go on and impact the team as much as I can,” said Montoya. “I feel like what we need to do is just be more confident through our game. When we were playing our way, controlling, we were getting shots on almost every possession.”
For the second half, the Huskies established a high press that led to a costly turnover from EIU junior goalkeeper Franco Barba. NIU strung together some passes until NIU freshman forward Vance Sheffield found space for a shot that deflected into the low left corner, cutting the lead to 2-1 in the 50th minute.
The Huskies’ poured on the pressure and looked especially dangerous from set pieces. EIU looked vulnerable during corners but a sequence of clutch saves and blocks from Barba and the Panthers’ defense were not letting anything through.
Despite the clear chances from NIU, EIU found an opening after recovering a ball in NIU’s half that resulted in a pass inside the penalty area to EIU junior forward Gui Gragnano who slotted the ball into the low left corner, making it 1-3 in the 77th minute.
From kickoff, the misery continued for NIU. EIU pressed high and once again forced an NIU turnover. This time, resulting in redshirt sophomore defender Tomasz Slawek bringing down the EIU forward. Slawek received a red card, leaving NIU down to 10 men.
The Huskies were finally able to get their second goal in the 90th minute, courtesy of freshman forward Nico Angulo. A ball whipped in from Montoya could not be cleared and Angulo smashed the ball in.
However, this was too little too late as the Panthers’ survived a late scare after a last second Montoya shot just went right. Despite being outshot 12-4 in this half and 22-12 total, the Panthers held on and handed NIU their second consecutive defeat.
“I’m confident that we can address the mental mistakes that we’re made tonight, and hopefully tighten things up at the back, and I do think the goals are going to come if we continue to create like we are,” Swan said.
The Huskies will look to bounce back against the Chicago State University Cougars at 1 p.m. Sunday at Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep in Chicago. The game will be streamed on NEC Front Row and live stats will be updated on StatBroadcast.
