Final Stats

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Sophomore Giovanni Garcia (Chicago, Ill./Elk Grove) scored in the 97th minute to lift the Northern Illinois University men’s soccer team to a 1-0 overtime victory over Bowling Green on Saturday night at Cochrane Stadium in their Mid-American Conference opener.

Junior Albert Levett (Southend-on-Sea, England/Belfairs High) fed a pass to Garcia in space 30 yards from goal. The Huskie sophomore took a couple of touches and unleashed a shot from 25 yards that dipped just out of the reach of Bowling Green goalkeeper Ryan Heuton and in off the underside of the crossbar.

With the win, the Huskies improve to 6-2-0 on the season, including four overtime wins which ties a school-record. NIU also won four overtime games during the 2006 season.

“I told the guys earlier today that it is hard to predict how any game will unfold, particularly conference games,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “Sometimes there is a lot of football, sometimes there isn’t, sometimes it is just set piece after set piece. The way it unfolded tonight, I thought there was a lot of soccer in the first half, from both sides, and statistically we were on top.

“Credit to Bowling Green, in the second half they put a lot of pressure on us, driving balls at our backline, and they were very dangerous. In overtime it is anyone’s game and, what do you say, we found a way again. It was a helluva strike by Giovanni Garcia, and the fact that we keep doing this, I couldn’t be more proud of the guys.”

The first good chance of the match came to the Huskies in the 17th minute as a shot by Garcia from 20 yards was palmed away by the Bowling Green goalkeeper. Junior Cody Witkowski (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) and senior Bertrand Gaschot (Austin, Texas/Westwood) helped to combined with Garcia to create the chance.

NIU had another chance in the 22nd minute. When the second ball off a corner kick wasn’t cleared, Gaschot had a shot that was blocked and sophomore Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School) was first to collect the deflection. Read’s effort was pushed away by the Falcon goalkeeper as the game remained scoreless.

Bowling Green (6-4-0) had its best look of the first half in the 35th minute as Max Auden fired high from just outside the top of the box as the game remained scoreless at the intermission.

NIU created the first chance of the second half as freshman Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) forced a save from Heuton. Rodriguez went on a 20-yard dribbling run, turning Falcon defenders and creating space as a defender slipped on the wet surface. The Bowling Green goalkeeper just got a hand on the 10-yard shot from Rodriguez, turning it aside for a corner.

NIU goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State) was called into action for the first time in the 54th minute on a shot from outside the box by Pat Flynn. Three minutes later, Glaeser was called upon again as he stopped a shot low to the near post from Tate Robertson.

On a free kick from about 35 yards in the 65th minute, Bowling Green’s Joe Sullivan clipped a dipping ball off the crossbar in behind Glaeser. The ball went out of play off the bar and the game remained scoreless.

A bit of possession by the Huskies led to a chance from freshman Nixon Urrutia (Houston, Texas/Dobie) in the 71st minute, but the Huskie freshman saw his shot from 25 yards fall comfortably into the arms of Heuton.

As the wind picked up and the conditions continued to get more difficult, Bowling Green continued to press the play in the final minutes of regulation. Glaeser was called upon again in the 80th minute, stopping a shot from Jacob Roth, but neither team could break the deadlock in the 90 minutes and the game headed to overtime.

NIU began to see more of the ball in the overtime period before Garcia ended it with the first shot of the extra session, giving the Huskies a 1-0 victory.

Glaeser finished with four saves while recording his 10th career shutout.

The Huskies will return home for the first time in nearly a month on Tuesday, Oct. 6, when NIU hosts Milwaukee in the annual Lewang Trophy match. Game time between the Huskies and Panthers is slated for 7 p.m.