Oct. 10, 2008
Box Score
Box Score in PDF Format 
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Northern Illinois men’s soccer team played through 110 minutes to a 1-1 tie against Buffalo, Friday.
Head Coach Steve Simmons complimented his team’s performance.
“The guys did a super job being first and second to the ball,” Simmons said. “Being a yard ahead of the play all day long.”
Northern Illinois (6-2-3, 1-1-1 Mid-American Conference) went up 1-0 late in the first half, as Ben Thomas (Hamilton, Ohio/Fairfield) headed a ball in off a throw-in from (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson/Oakland).
“We went up 1-0, deservedly so, just before half time,” Simmons said. “It was a tribute to the hustle and first-to-the-ball principle that we worked on all week.”
After the goal, the Huskies kept the Bulls scoreless for nearly 40 minutes before a foul in the box gave Buffalo a penalty kick. Dan Bulley took advantage of the chance to tie the match in the 80th minute.
“Full credit to the boys for rising above and beyond the occasion and perform to what they did,” Simmons said. “It’s a pity there were a couple things outside their control that didn’t give them the deserved victory.”
The draw was also a near tie statistically. NIU outshot the Bulls 11-10, and each squad tallied six shots on goal. The Huskies held a slight advantage in corner kicks, 8-6.
“It wasn’t an all out war scenario, but it was a typical hard fought MAC contest,” Simmons said. “We needed to be a step ahead in every single category, which I though we were in everything except the score.”
The Huskies travel to Wisconsin to face Milwaukee in the annual battle for the LeWang Cup, Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7:05 p.m.
