Men’s soccer (1-0, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) defeated the DePaul University Blue Demons (0-1, 0-0 Big-East Conference) by a score of 3-2 in their season opener Friday.

The game got off to a fast start, with the first three goals of the game being scored in the first eight minutes. Junior defenseman Nicholas Haas scored the first goal of the season for the Huskies with just under five minutes left in the game to put NIU ahead 1-0.

DePaul responded quickly when junior defenseman Anton Sell netted a goal to tie the game at one at the seven minute mark.

The game wasn’t tied for long as NIU junior forward Giovanni Pacheco scored at the 8:11 minute mark to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead, which they took into halftime.

Both teams became much more aggressive in the second half. 11 yellow cards were handed out after the 59 minute mark, with seven going to DePaul and four to NIU.

The biggest caution came against NIU sophomore midfielder Ethan Pitre as he was called for a handball just outside the box with three seconds left in regulation.

DePaul was granted a free kick and senior midfielder Philipp Konigstein scored to tie the game at two, sending the game to a sudden death overtime period.

The Huskies remained aggressive in overtime and junior forward Adrian Coardos netted a goal six minutes into overtime to give NIU a 3-2 victory.

The win gives head coach Ryan Swan his first victory in his debut as coach of the Huskies. Swan gave his team credit for not getting down on themselves after losing the lead with only seconds left.

“We played really well early and sort of lost our rhythm as the game went on, but the guys responded well,” Swan said. “This was an easy one to hang your head down after conceding a goal with four seconds left but, overall, I’m proud of the character of the guys to come out and get a win.”

After a rough year for the Huskies in 2016, senior goalkeeper Drew Donnally was excited to start the season with a win and is happy with where the team is headed under Swan.

“The win was huge,” Donnally said. “The last eight months since Swan came in, we’ve been trying to establish a winning culture and I think the eight months of preparation and hard work really showed today. We never gave up; it was a battle the whole time and even after the late goal, we were right there and continued to battle and I think that all came from the culture we established.”

The Huskies take the field again 4:30 p.m. Friday when they take on the Bradley University Braves in Evansville, Indiana.