Senior day was the appropriate title for Saturday’s match-up between the NIU men’s soccer team and conference opponent Hartwick.

As the seniors celebrated their collegiate career, defender Drew Jeskey showed the team why his class will be missed.The senior notched his third goal of the season, to put the Huskies up 2-1 in a double-overtime MAC victory.

With the scored tied 1-1 going in the second overtime period, junior Danny Lopez threw the ball into the box, and Jeskey found the net for the game winner in the 103rd minute.

“It couldn’t have been scripted any better,” said NIU head coach Steve Simmons of having a senior score the game winning goal. “All the seniors played with a lot of passion on a day celebrating their hard work. [On the score] Drew was first to the ball. Game over.”

Before Jeskey and the team celebrated, they battled back from a 1-0 first half deficit. Hartwick’s Steven Amaya capitalized for his team in the 11th minute on a Huskie misplay.

“It was a product of our own mistake,” Simmons said. “When you kick yourself in the foot like we did, you let a team go up. But the guys showed they wanted the win and fought hard to come back.”

The team (7-2-4 overall, 2-1-1 MAC) tied the game 1-1 after a penalty kick in the 75th minute. The kick resulted from a handball in the box, and freshman Brad Horton capitalized for his fifth goal of the season.

Horton leads the team in goals, with two penalty kick goals on the season. Simmons said the penalty was bound to come, after the Huskies led relentless attacks throughout the game.

“Situations like a called handball are going to happen if you hang around the box long enough,” Simmons said. “Shots like that are going to happen if you can contain a team near their own goal.”

NIU contained Hartwick long enough to find themselves with a 16-10 shot advantage in the match. The Huskies placed seven shots on goal, compared to Hartwick’s five, and also saw five corner kicks, to their four.

The Huskies also had an advantage as Saturday’s match-up was held during Homecoming festivities. Simmons, a sixth year coach, celebrated his first Homecoming at NIU, where they team played in DeKalb for the weekend. Prior to the contest, the Huskies played on the road every year since Simmons became coach.

“We were right in the middle of the football tailgate, we were right in the middle of everything,” the coach said. “It was fun being a part of the atmosphere, but we need to work on getting more people into the stadium to see us.”