Men’s soccer (7-7-1, 1-3-1 MAC) fell to West Virginia (7-11-0, 2-3-0 MAC) 3-2 in a close comeback on Friday night.

Senior defender Taylor Cole scored two goals in the last five minutes for the Huskies. The two teams were even for much of the first half despite a header goal by forward Joey Piatczyc for the Mountaineers. WVU held possession throughout most of the game.

NIU had a couple of scoring opportunities early in the second period on shots by sophomore defender/midfielder Jerome Roche and sophomore midfielder Giovanni Garcia, but Roche’s shot was blocked and Garcia’s went high. A goal by junior forward Felix Angerer put the Mountaineers up 2-0 with under 15 minutes left.

Cole struck a ball in goal to pull the Huskies within one with fewer than five minutes remaining, and struck again to tie the game at 2-2 with fewer than two minutes to go.

WVU answered about 30 seconds later when midfielder Jack Elliott headed the ball past diving goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser on a free kick, giving them the 3-2 win. The loss ended the season for the Huskies and gave WVU a MAC Tournament berth.

“First, I would like to congratulate West Virginia,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi, according to an NIU Athletics news release. “They got the result and on the whole of the 90 minutes, they were very good. That being said, I thought our guys were good on the night also. The commitment that was displayed from our team to get those two goals back in the last five minutes of the game was heroic; that’s the only word I can come up with. “Then to have the game decided in such a controversial manner, I’m devastated for our guys who poured everything into the season and into this evening, especially our four seniors.