Final Stats

CHARLESTON, Ill. -- Sophomore Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School) headed home the game-winning goal with three seconds left as the Northern Illinois University men’s soccer team pulled out a 3-2 double overtime victory at Eastern Illinois on Tuesday afternoon.

NIU (5-2-0) took a two-goal lead inside the first 10 minutes of the contest but Eastern Illinois pulled both goals back in the final 10 minutes of regulation before the Huskies claimed the win in overtime.

With six seconds to play in the second overtime, freshman Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park)  was fouled 30 yards from goal. Junior Richard Hall (Billericay, England/The Billericay School) took the free kick and found the head of Read 12 yards from goal. Read’s header went back across a diving Ben Feltes in goal for Eastern Illinois and slipped just inside the post with three seconds on the clock to give the Huskies the victory.

For Read the goal was his team-best fourth of the season, his third game-winner.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game because of the conditions,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “It rained all day, so the field was a little sloppy, for both teams. Credit to the guys, we came out very well. We scored two goals in five minutes, but then I think a little bit of our youth showed.

“We didn’t get the third goal to kill the game off and the next thing you know they got one goal, then the tying one, and we were on the back foot, and It took a little bit of luck with three seconds left to squeak out of here with three points."

The Huskies earned a corner in the third minute as NIU was on the front foot right from the opening kickoff. The initial corner was cleared for a second Huskie corner and Read was pulled down in the box after the second corner, giving the Huskies an early penalty kick. Senior Taylor Cole (Clarendon Hills, Ill./Hinsdale Central/St. John's) stepped up and converted from the spot to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute.

NIU doubled its advantage in the sixth minute. Rodriguez picked up the ball in midfield and dribbled his way to the edge of the box. From near the 18, Rodriguez fired across the goalkeeper and inside the post for his first career goal as the Huskies took an early 2-0 advantage.

In the 13th minute, sophomore Giovanni Garcia (Chicago, Ill./Elk Grove) had a chance to add to the Huskie lead but his header from 12 yards sailed high.

Four minutes later Eastern Illinois created its first chance of the contest as Trevor Kearns tested senior Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State) in goal for NIU. The Panthers connected a pair of passes to find Kearns near the top of the box and his shot was tipped wide of the post by the Huskie senior goalkeeper.

Glaeser finished the contest with three saves.

Junior Albert Levett (Southend-on-Sea, England/Belfairs High) connected with Rodriguez in midfield in the 23rd minute, but Rodriguez’s attempt for a second goal went high.

Eastern Illinois (2-6-0) then maintained its best spell of possession in the opening 45 minutes before the Huskies closed out the half with a couple of chances. NIU earned trio of corners in the final three minutes; Cole had a shot blocked and a header from Read was collected by Feltes just before the end of the half.

NIU created the first chance of the second half as Rodriguez connected with senior Bertrand Gaschot (Austin, Texas/Westwood) who found the angled run of freshman Giovanni Pacheco (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena), but his attempt was smothered by Feltes in the 58th minute.

Eastern Illinois had a chance in the 61st minute as the Panthers used a couple of passes through midfield to spring Justin Oliver in on goal but his shot was just wide.

The Huskies continued to control the action until Eastern Illinois scored against the run of play in the 85th minute. The Panthers worked the ball down the left side and a cross came through a scramble and found Davis Wegmann inside the six-yard box. Wegmann was able to poke a shot past Glaeser to cut the NIU advantage in half.

Eastern Illinois pulled level in the 88th minute. After a foul gave the Panthers a free kick about 35 yards from goal, Dominic Recca served the free kick into the area where an unmarked Oliver tucked the ball home past a helpless Glaeser to level the match.

The first good chance of overtime came in the 103rd minute as a shot from Garcia was tipped by the Panther goalkeeper off the crossbar and out for a corner kick.

NIU continued to apply pressure as Pacheco and Levett each had shots that went wide. The Huskies finally broke the deadlock when Read’s header found the just three seconds before the final whistle.

The Huskies will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 3, when they close their four-game roadtrip with the Mid-American Conference opener at Bowling Green. Game time between the Huskies and Falcons is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.