DeKALB — Taking a break from Missouri Valley Conference play, the NIU men’s soccer team (6-3-4, 1-0-3 MVC) hosted the University of Notre Dame (7-4-4, 2-2-2 ACC) on a cold, rainy Tuesday night.
The intense matchup saw an early goal within the first 15 minutes that gave Notre Dame the advantage but the Huskies, led by freshman forward Vance Sheffield, replied with two of their own. Once again, the Fighting Irish fell to the Huskies for a 2-1 upset.
“We really took the game to them; it’s six games unbeaten now,” said NIU men’s soccer head coach Ryan Swan. “The result is huge for the morale, the team, and the belief of the team that we can play with anybody.”
FIRST HALF
The opening minutes saw the Huskies on the backfoot due to high line and quick passing from the Fighting Irish. NIU struggled to string together scoring oppurtunities while Notre Dame pinned them back and tested the Huskies’ defense.
In the 13th minute, a couple of simple but effective passes from Notre Dame split the Huskies defense inside the box. Fighting Irish junior midfielder Nolan Spicer was left one-on-one with NIU junior goalkeeper Atahan Arslan for an easy, low driven shot that found the back of the net.
Despite conceding, the goal awakened the Huskies, who upped the intensity, began pressing higher and fought harder for possession. The newfound momentum led to the Huskies’ first goal, which came 14 minutes after Notre Dame’s opener.
What appeared to be a routine buildup from Notre Dame’s backline was disrupted by NIU freshman forward Niko Angulo. The Dallas native preyed on the ball and broke up the pass, which fell to freshman forward Vance Sheffield, who calmly took a touch to his right and beat the keeper into the low right corner for the equalizer.
In an instant, the goal flipped the momentum in the Huskies’ favor, as they were now forcing the Fighting Irish into their own half. Late in the first half, Angulo nearly doubled the advantage when he headed in a cross but Notre Dame sophomore goalkeeper Blake Kelly was there for the last second block.
SECOND HALF
The second half was back-and-forth with both sides looking for the lead, trading corners and possessions until disaster struck for NIU when Arslan was sent off with a red card in the 57th minute, leaving them with 10 men.
Sophomore goalkeeper Caleb Pearson was subbed on in hopes to provide stability to a vulnerable Huskies side, which he did with 2 saves. Notre Dame sent more numbers into the attack but NIU’s defense held their shape and limited the Fighting Irish to long shots and ineffective crosses.
“Big shout out to Caleb (Pearson), our goalie who came in,” said Sheffield. “It’s so hard to come off the bench, in the cold and still do an amazing job like he did.”
In the 64th minute, a flatfooted Fighting Irish was caught on the transition after a corner whipped in by Notre Dame was cleared by the NIU defense and gathered by Sheffield. He exploited the open space, drew three defenders and laid it off to sophomore midfielder Martin Montoya. The Hinsdale native struck the ball hard into the lower right corner for the 2-1 lead.
Even with 10 men, NIU continued to generate chances with counters and disrupt any Notre Dame momentum with tactical fouls. Coach Swan praised the efforts of Sheffield and sophomore forward Katai Mukuka late in the game.
“We changed our formation just to have one guy pressing and I thought Vance (Sheffiled) did a phenomenal job, essentially a four versus one up there,” added Swan. “But we could see him getting tired so we relied on Katai (Makuka) to fill in, such a thankless job too.”
The strategy worked, despite Notre Dame having 57% possession and totaling 17 total shots to NIU’s eight, the Huskies defense held firm and closed out the ultimate upset 2-1, extending the Huskies’ unbeaten run to six games.
“We showed so much heart today; our midfield just did amazing, keeping the ball and allowing me to have chances up top,” Sheffield said. “I really believe when I say this, when we’re playing our best soccer, I don’t think there’s anyone that can beat us.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies will now refocus their attention to MVC play as they travel to the University of Illinois in Chicago at 7 p.m Saturday at Flames Field in Chicago. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be updated on StatBroadcast.
