NIU Honors students overcame honors faculty to take the win in a 10-4 victory in the department’s annual soccer match Thursday afternoon.

Engineering technology professor Andrew Otieno said honors faculty felt confident going the match, held in the Chick Evans Field House.

Honors faculty went into the game against students defending last year’s title, Otieno said.

Junior nursing major Jacquie Beck helped organize the event, which is held each fall.

“We have a lot of members in the Honors Program who are big proponents of soccer,” Beck said. “It’s a way for students and faculty to interact so they aren’t sitting in a classroom.”

The game consisted of 10-minute quarters with seven players on each team. Students alternated whenever someone got tired, said junior finance major Brett Billenstein. Overall, 14 students and nine faculty members (with two of those being student faculty) played.

Chemistry professor Chong Zheng said he plays soccer near the engineering building every week with his colleagues, so he decided to play in the Honors game.

Billenstein said the faculty members looked fatigued even before halftime.

“We’re in our 40s, not our 20s,” said Christopher Jones/kg, political science professor and associate vice provost for University Honors. “If we have to lose, we have to lose to honors students.”

John Tsaras, junior computer science and applied math major, scored the first goal of the game.

“It’s a good workout,” he said as sweat dripped down his face during a brief rest. Tsaras said he wanted to play in the game to get to know other Honors students.

Freshman history major Brandon Phillips scored the second goal of the game and said it felt “awesome.”

“It’s a bragging rights game,” Phillips said. “For the rest of the year, anytime I see those professors, I’m going to [rub it in].”