Men’s soccer draws even with Bradley

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Northern Star File Photo

Defensemen Adrian Lara (no. 5) tracks down the ball during a defensive stand during NIUs 5-2 victory over Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference semi-final in Nov. 2021.

DeKALB — The Huskies went up against Bradley University on Thursday night in a tightly-battled contest that ended in a 2-2 draw.

Head coach Ryan Swan spoke on his team’s performance and the end result of a draw.

“We’re disappointed,” Swan said. “It feels like a defeat more than a draw. We controlled most of the game, we just didn’t capitalize on some of the opportunities that we had to get the win.”

The Huskies did not waste any time scoring as they took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute of the game with a goal by sophomore forward Taisei Arima. The goal was assisted by junior defender Malcolm Ward.

The Braves responded less than a minute later at 8:12 to even the score 1-1 with a goal from Bradley sophomore midfielder Francesco Pettinaroli assisted by redshirt sophomore midfielder Reed Rodgers.

The Braves scored again at 34:19 with a goal by redshirt sophomore forward Alex Olsen assisted by Francesco Pettinaroli to take a 2-1 lead into the half.

Just a couple minutes into the second half, the Huskies came right back in the 48th minute to even it up at 2-2 once junior midfielder Patrick Coleman with a kick assisted by Arima.

The Huskies kept the pressure on with a total of seven shots on a goal to try to take the lead. Their efforts would not be enough, ending in a draw 2-2.

The Huskies will be back in action at 7 p.m. on Monday at home against Milwaukee University and can be streamed through NIU All-Access on NIU’s official website.