DeKALB — Senior forward Nick Markanich scored his national-high tying 13th goal of the season as the 21st ranked men’s soccer team drew with the Georgia Southern University Eagles 1-1.

“It feels like a defeat,” head coach Ryan Swan said in a Thursday NIU Athletics press release. “We were really slow to start the game, even though we scored in the first half. We didn’t look sharp, we didn’t look clean, it took us about 60 minutes to really start playing, so I have to look at that and how we prepared and why we were so off it tonight.”

The Huskies’ lone goal came in the 20th minute as senior defenseman Anthony Markanich kicked a direct ball from midfield to find Nick Markanich who headed the ball in to put NIU up 1-0.

The Eagles responded in the 42nd minute when junior forward Adam Davie scored the equalizer to make the game 1-1.

In the 85th minute, NIU had a chance to put the game away when redshirt junior forward Enrique Banuelos hit a blistering shot in the box that deflected off the head of junior goalkeeper Jokull Blaengsson.

The Eagles countered in the 90th minute when a high shot by junior midfielder Jeremiah Luoma missed the net, sending the match to overtime.

After a first overtime period that saw neither team recorded a shot, the Huskies came out reinvigorated in the second overtime with multiple chances.

In the 102nd minute, Banuelos again had an opportunity to score, but his shot was tipped over the bar by Blaengsson.

In the 109th minute, Anthony Markanich was given the ball on a corner kick but was unable to hit the net with a shot as it ended up wide of the post.

NIU finished the match with 10 total shots, six of them on goal. The Eagles finished with nine total shots, six on goal.

With the draw, the #21 Huskies are second in the MAC with three matches remaining.

NIU will be back in action at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Atlanta, GA, as the Huskies take on the Georgia State University Panthers.

“Georgia State is going to be a very good opponent and it is a big test for the guys to see where they are and how much they want to be MAC Champions,” Swan said. “For the most part, things are still in our hands. We are in a great position, but it does mean that we have to go get a good result against a very good Georgia State team on Saturday.”