Eastern Illinois men's soccer dropped a 2-1 decision to Northern Illinois on Saturday night at Lakeside Field. The Panthers battled throughout the match, holding the Huskies scoreless in the opening half before NIU scored twice in the second half.
Both teams played to a scoreless draw through the opening 45 minutes. Eastern Illinois held an 8-8 advantage in shots during the first half, while goalkeeper Samuel Toruno made three saves to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard.
The Panthers responded just over two minutes in the second half when Bernardo Hanel scored his first goal of the season in the 81st minute.
NIU broke through when Stevan Ljubicic scored off an assist from teammate Vance Sheffield to tie the game 1-1.
NIU had momentum on their side and pressed the EIU defense, Sheffield then scored his second goal of the match at the 79th minute to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Huskies.
Eastern Illinois finished the night with an 18-13 advantage in shots and placed three shots on goal. The Panthers also earned seven corner kicks compared to four for the Huskies.
Adam Boykin led the Panthers with three shots, while Sergej Misic added five shots. Hanel recorded EIU's lone goal of the night.
Toruno played all 90 minutes in goal for EIU and finished with three saves. Northern Illinois goalkeeper Cayden Crawford made two saves to earn the win.
With the loss, Eastern Illinois falls to 0-3-1 on the season, while Northern Illinois improves to 3-2-0.
Eastern Illinois will return to action September 11th at Lakeside Field against Bradley University.
