DeKALB — Two goals in the last four minutes against the Bradley University Braves (2-4-4, 0-1-1 MVC) completed the Huskies’ comeback, taking a 2-1 victory for their first Missouri Valley Conference win.
With the win, NIU men’s soccer (3-3-4, 1-0-1) has the same amount of conference wins as its 2024 season, in which the Huskies went 1-6-1 in MVC competition.
“The first conference game at home, we’d identified this as one that you’ve got to win when there’s a good crowd out,” said NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan. “The guys were fired up playing at home, and we made it difficult. I actually thought we played really well in the first half. Bradley defended really well, but we felt like in the second half there would be more opportunities opened up. When we conceded, it was a little disappointing, but there’s a lot of determination and belief in this team. I always thought there’d be a way back for us. Not the way I’d like it or draw it up, but just delighted with the three points.”
Despite taking 8 shots, four of which were on goal, the Huskies were unable to score in the first half. The Braves’ lone shot of the half was stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Caleb Pearson, who made a diving save to keep the score even.
Minutes after his shot was saved, Braves junior forward Mitch Coughlin sent the ball past Pearson, giving Bradley a 1-0 lead.
Taking until the 87th minute while creating 17 shots, seven of which were on goal, the Huskies found a late equalizer with minutes left in the match. Sophomore midfielder Martin Montoya found the right angle at the right time, crossing the ball into the right-side corner of the net.
“If they (Bradley) can score, all credit to them,” Montoya said of the late goal. “I feel like we had way more chances. We just had to keep going and eventually we were just trying to put one of them away. We had two great chances, both went in the goal.”
Freshman forward Vance Sheffield scored the game winner for the Huskies in the 89th minute, off a free kick from Montoya. Sheffield’s header sent the ball past Braves senior goalkeeper Drew Berry to give NIU a 2-1 lead.
“We were all really frustrated, but reminded each other to keep our heads and stay composed,” Sheffield said. “We knew we were going to get one. Martin (Montoya) played a great pass to me, and that’s my job is to score and everyone else does their job.”
Sheffield led the Huskies with four shots, all of which were on goal, while the Huskies outshot the Braves 20(10)-4(4). The Huskies forced Berry to make 8 saves for Bradley and Pearson allowed 1 goal while saving two of the Braves’ shots.
Montoya emphasized the team’s mentality going into games, and how the confidence in their ability to win has increased.
“As a team, we always feel like we can do the best,” Montoya said. “We feel like we can come out each game and win, and in games like these, where it’s the little inches, we just can prove that we’re better than the other teams. And we all have this confidence that we can out and we can score these goals. I have confidence in my defense that they’re going to defend for me, I have confidence in my midfield that they’ll play nice passes and I have confidence in our strikers that they’ll score.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies continue MVC play on the road at 11 a.m. Saturday against Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The game will be streamed on Youtube and live stats will be updated on StatBroadcast.
“It’s huge,” Swan said of the way the win improves the team’s confidence. “I think things are so tight in the conference right now that we’ve talked about, really anybody can beat any team on a given day. I think it’s important to find a conference win like this, it breeds belief. We’ve got a tough content coming up on Friday, and the guys are going to have to find that resiliency again to go and get a result against Western Michigan.”
