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EVANSTON, Ill. – Freshman Will Butler made his Eastern Illinois men's soccer debut in dramatic fashion by scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the Panthers over Big Ten member Northwestern, 2-1, on Friday evening at Lakeside Field.

In the 93rd minute on an EIU throw-in by Jake Irwin, Northwestern goalkeeper Tommy Tombridge punched the ball off the edge of the post to Butler who tapped the ball into the back of the net for the Panthers first win of the 2011 season.

The Panthers (1-0) improve to 5-4-5 all-time against the Wildcats (0-1) with the victory while EIU head coach Adam Howarth improves to 2-2-1 versus the Big Ten foe.

“I thought the first 10-15 minutes we struggled a bit since we started a lot of younger players,” said Howarth. “In the second half we were the better team and had quite a few chances to score.

“We needed guys to make big plays for us tonight and (Mike) Picinich made a play when we needed it.”

Northwestern took an early 1-0 lead when Oliver Kupe found the back of the net in the seventh minute off a ball played through the defense by teammate Jarrett Baughman.

The Wildcats held onto their lead until the 77th minute when Mike Picinich tied the match, hitting the upper right corner of the goal from 25 yards out, just beyond the top left corner of the box.

EIU took three more shots (9-6) than Northwestern and committed two more fouls (8-6). The Wildcats took five more corner kicks (6-1) in the contest.

Sophomore Tyler Kelley started the match in goal for the Panthers and made one save and allowed one goal. Junior-transfer Evan Turner played in the final 48 minutes, making two saves and earning his first win in a Panther uniform. Tombridge made three saves between the pipes for the Wildcats.

Butler and Picinich paced the Panther attack with two shots each while Reed Losee also had two shots to lead the Wildcat offense.

The Panthers return to action at Bradley on Sept. 1.