Final Stats

DEKALB, Ill. – Sophomore Nicolas Wandl (Tulln, Austria//University of Vienna) drew a penalty kick and scored a goal as the Northern Illinois University men’s soccer team defeated IUPUI, 2-0, on Tuesday night at the NIU Soccer Complex. With the win, the Huskies improve to 7-3-0 on the season.

“IUPUI is a very hard team to play against,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “They are committed, they have some athletic pieces, they are pretty direct and the guys they have up top battle, fight and scrap for everything. From that standpoint, I thought our guys managed that well and matched their will and their intensity.

“In the handful of moments when we had a chance to do some soccer things, I thought we did a good job. The second goal that we scored was absolutely fantastic. The combination inside the box, the quality of the football to create that goal was great. I’m pleased for the guys, pleased with the shutout and pleased that we managed a lead, which is something we have let slip away once or twice this season.”

NIU sophomore goalkeeper Drew Donnally (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) was called into action in the sixth minute as a long throw by the Jaguars found Nick Anderson at the back post and Donnally was forced to make an early save.

The Huskies created a couple of early chances that were blocked by the IUPUI (0-7-5) defense before NIU opened the scoring on a penalty from senior Taylor Cole (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Hinsdale Central/St. John's) in the 18th minute.

Wandl drew the penalty with a diagonal run across the box where he was blocked off by a Jaguar defender as the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Cole stepped up and smashed home his third goal of the season to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies doubled the advantage nine minutes later. Junior Albert Levett (Southend-on-Sea, England/Belfairs High) picked the ball up in midfield and made a run toward the corner of the box. Levett played the ball to Wandl who played a quick one-two with freshman Giovanni Pacheco (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena) inside the box and the sophomore from Austria made no mistake when he got the ball back, slotting home past IUPUI goalkeeper Eduardo Cortes to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

The goal was Wandl’s first in his collegiate career.

IUPUI’s best chance of the first half came in the 38th minute as Clint Hoffar’s effort came back off the crossbar and Sean Siasia followed with a header that was cleared off the line by the NIU defense.

After the intermission, the Jaguars created the first dangerous opportunity as, off another long throw, Jacob Singer flashed a header toward goal that was pushed off the crossbar by NIU senior goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State), who replaced Donnally at halftime.

The chances for IUPUI continued to come off of long throw-ins as Ben Thornton connected on a powerful header high of the NIU goal in the 66th minute.

NIU forced Cortes into a pair of saves in the 73rd minute as sophomore Giovanni Garcia (Chicago, Ill./Elk Grove) and Levett each had a chance to add a third goal but the IUPUI goalkeeper made a pair of saves.

Late in the contest Pacheco forced a save from IUPUI substitute goalkeeper Josh Gray and freshman Adrian Coardos (Evanston, Ill./Niles North) had a chance that was blocked as the game finished, 2-0.

Donnally and Glaeser each finished with one save as the Huskie goalkeepers combined for NIU’s fifth shutout of the season.

NIU will return to Mid-American Conference play on Saturday, Oct. 17, as the Huskies travel to Akron, Ohio, to meet the sixth-ranked Zips in a matchup of two of the three unbeaten teams in league play. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.