Aug. 14, 2008

DeKALB - The annual Northern Illinois Cardinal and Black game, the men's soccer intrasquad scrimmage, ended in a 2-2 tie, Thursday at Huskie Stadium.

The upperclassmen-laden Cardinal squad fell behind 2-0 to the Black team on goals from Finn Jor (Oslo, Norway/Academy for Elite Athletes) and Matt Zirretta (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Kennedy/Kentucky). The Cardinal group rallied as junior Ben Thomas (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) and senior Chris Johnson (Colorado Springs, Col./Air Academy/Yavapai C.C.) each scored in the final three minutes to force the stalemate.

"I thought there were a lot of scoring chances created, which is good," Head Coach Steve Simmons said. "The newer players came together pretty well for their first time playing together."

Black started the scoring in the 25th minute. Jor received a pass from fellow freshman Jason Guehler (The Colony, Texas/The Colony) and split a pair of central defenders before lofting a shot just above the reach of goalkeeper Joe Zimka (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) and into the net.

"That little goal right there could be something special, those partnerships," Simmons said.

Zirretta scored on a less structured play. The sophomore fired a shot that Zimka blocked, but Zirretta recovered possession on the rebound and put it away to give the younger Black squad a 2-0 lead just after halftime.

With less than four minutes remaining in the match, and the Black team down a man after Jor came out of the game with cramps, the upperclassmen Cardinal team pressed forward. Luis De La Cerda (Guadalajara, Mexico/Waubonsie Valley) and Drew Jeskey (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East) both missed shots high before Jeskey flicked a pass to Thomas for a score with just under three minutes remaining.

Less than three minutes later, Thomas, along with junior Brad Bahr (Peoria, Ill./Dunlap), assisted Johnson on the match's tying goal

"I saw great spirit at the end from the returning players to come back and pull things level, Simmons said.

The result pleased the sixth-year leader of the Huskie program

"Tonight showed the potential depth of this team," he said. "When you go through a campaign like we're going to go to, you need to rely on the full squad. The 2-2 result was reflective of the depth that we have."

The Huskies will take two days off competition before facing DePaul in an exhibition match, Sunday at 1 p.m. in Chicago.