Men’s soccer ties with DePaul in double overtime
NIU fell to Loyola Sunday
The Huskies celebrate a goal Oct. 8, 2019 during an eventual 5-1 win against Eastern Illinois University at Soccer and Track and Field Complex.
February 17, 2021
DeKALB — Men’s soccer hasn’t had the ideal second week of regular season play, going 0-1-1 over the four-day stretch in Rockford, Illinois.
Sunday: Loyola 2, NIU 0
The men’s soccer team led a late offensive charge against the University of Loyola Ramblers Sunday, but nothing stuck, and the Huskies took a 2-0 loss.
At the Indoor Sports Center at Mercyhealth Sportscore Two in Rockford, NIU struggled to get shots on goal despite several offensive opportunities. The Huskies had one shot on goal and eight corner kicks.
Head coach Ryan Swan said the Ramblers were a tough defensive matchup for NIU, who managed seven shots in the second half after a slow start.
“Loyola are a really tough, defensive, physical team, and we gave up two goals from set pieces,” Swan said in an NIU Athletics news release. “It was difficult to dig ourselves out of that hole once we were there. We were better in the second half and got into some dangerous areas, but it was too little, too late at that point.”
Neither team got off a shot until the 22nd minute when the Ramblers got off a shot that was deflected away by redshirt sophomore goalie Martin Sanchez. It was during the 24th minute that the Ramblers struck first with a goal by sophomore defenseman Marc Torrellas.
Seven minutes later, Loyola struck again with a penalty kick goal by junior midfielder Billy Hency to make the advantage 2-0 Ramblers at halftime.
NIU received three corner opportunities late in the second. The first shot was deflected by a defenseman, the second went over the crossbar and the third was saved by Loyola. The Ramblers held on for their 2-0 victory.
Wednesday: NIU 2, DePaul 2
Men’s soccer draws even against the University of DePaul Blue Demons with a final score of 2-2 in double overtime in Rockford.
The Huskies scored first in minute 56 of the game with junior forward Nick Markanich scoring the opening goal. DePaul responded with two goals back-to-back with junior midfielder Jake Fuderer scoring both goals in minute 61 and minute 65. The Huskies responded with a goal from Markanich in the 90th minute of the game.
There were no goals scored in both overtime periods of the game, however, there were four shots on goal for the Huskies and no shots from DePaul. The Huskies had 20 shots in the game, and DePaul only had four shots. While NIU had way more total shots, only eight were on target for the Huskies and four on target for DePaul.
Redshirt sophomore Martin Sanchez started in goal for the Huskies and had two saves on four shots on goal.
In the game, NIU first-year defender Harry Jolley picked up a red card, which ejected him from the game in minute 71 of the game. In the game, the cards were split with DePaul receiving three yellow cards, and the Huskies receiving two yellow cards and one red card.
With the tie, the Huskies move to 0-2-1 on the season.
The Huskies will come back to DeKalb 2 p.m. Feb. 26 to play the Chicago State University Cougars with limited fan attendance.
