The men’s soccer team led an exciting comeback to force a draw Tuesday against the Drake University Bulldogs, ending a three-game losing streak.

“I think we saw some of the fight that’s been missing in the last couple games,” Head Coach Ryan Swan said. “The response was great and there’s certainly a lot of positives we can take out of this.”

The Bulldogs got on the board first in minute-9 with a header from junior midfielder Antonio Sanchez.

“We gave up a very disappointing goal in the first half,” Swan said. “It was their only shot on goal in the half.”

Drake University padded their lead in the second half; sophomore forward Leroy Enzugusi scored in minute-70 to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 advantage.

Shortly after Drake’s second goal, first year forward Nick Markanich checked back into the game and began his assault.

Markanich took a shot from distance that floated into the back of the net in minute-74. His brother, first year defender Anthony Markanich, fed him the ball and picked up the only assist on the score.

Less than three minutes later, Nick found the back of the net once more. Anthony fired a shot that rang off the post and Nick blasted the rebound home.

“[Nick] has been fantastic,” Swan said. “He could have 10 [goals] right now. He’s had a lot of good opportunities and good services. He’ll continue to [become] a better player and hopefully get into double digit [goals] this year.”

The twins combined for six points, two goals and two assists, and provided all of the Huskies’ scoring in the contest.

“I didn’t think [playing in my freshman season] would be this easy,” Nick joked. “I’m very surprised how it’s gone so far, I think I can do better finishing though, but it’s gone well so far. After I score, I feel pumped and want to keep going and going.”

Despite two overtimes, a winner could not be determined and the game ended unceremoniously in a draw.

Possession metrics favored NIU; the Huskies outshot their opposition 29-8, 16-4 on goal. The Bulldogs’ goalkeeper kept his team in the game with 14 saves, several of larcenous variety.

“The response was good in the second half,” Swan said. “The guys never stopped working and at the end we could have won it.”

The Huskies return to conference play 7 p.m. Saturday at home to take on the University of Akron Zips.

“At halftime, Coach Swan gave a good speech,” Nick said. “He basically said, ‘Give it your all,’ and that’s what we did. I liked how we played our second half. We [need to] play that way Saturday against Akron.”