Fraser Gibson’s fifth goal of the season gave the NIU men’s soccer team a 1-0 win Sunday over Kentucky, tying with UK atop the MAC.

Gibson’s goal was his third of the weekend after the freshman scored twice in the Huskies 6-3 victory Friday over Bowling Green.

NIU is now 9-4 overall, giving it two more wins than any other MAC team. The Huskies are also 3-1 in MAC play.

Eight minutes into the match, Gibson won the ball eight yards in front of UK goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and scored to tie fellow freshman Curt Zastrow’s five goals for the team lead.

“Fraser is gaining confidence every game,” coach Steve Simmons said. “He’s made himself very dangerous and scored a great goal today.”

The Huskies win was their first in five years over UK (7-4-2, 3-1) and the Wildcats’ first loss to a non-Top 25 team this season.

On Wednesday, UK earned a 0-0 tie at home against Indiana, the No. 2 team in the nation and on Oct. 1 lost 1-0 in overtime, again at home, to No. 10 Michigan.

“If you put apples and apples together,” Simmons said, “it shows how far we’ve come, and that we can play with anybody.”

UK was in first place heading into Sunday’s match – the polar opposite of Bowling Green, which is 0-13 on the season and 0-3 in the MAC after its loss to NIU.

The Huskies took a 5-0 lead into halftime against BGSU on goals from junior Brendon Parrish, freshman Cody Russell, Zastrow and Gibson, who scored both of his in the first half.

BGSU scored three in a row following the intermission after sophomore Matt Corcoran replaced Steve Goletz in net. Simmons put the first-string back in after the third goal, and Zastrow notched his second goal of the game with 38-seconds left to close out the slugfest.

“I have faith in all of our players, Simmons said. “It was unfortunate we had to give up three goals, but it was good for everyone to see where they are.”