DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team fell to Eastern Illinois, 1-0, on Tuesday night at the NIU Soccer Complex. A 71st minute goal from Brendan McDonough was enough to lift the Panthers to a road victory.

"It was a very even game," said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. "I thought we were poor in the first half, and Eastern Illinois was pretty good in the first half. At halftime it was level and I was pleased with our response, I thought we were much more lively and energetic, pressing them into mistakes. We did a lot of good things, hit the post, hit the crossbar, created a few very good chances and then had one bad moment in our end and credit to Eastern (Illinois) they punished us for it."

NIU (1-6-4) created the first good chance of the opening half in the 16th minute as junior Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School) came off the backline to setup freshman Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) for a chance. Molina tried to slip a shot past Eastern Illinois goalkeeper Mike Novotny but Novotny just got a hand to it, keeping the game scoreless.

The contest remained scoreless nearing halftime when Kris Luke found himself in behind the NIU defense and had an excellent chance to open the scoring in the 43rd minute, but Donnally came up with a great save.

With less than a minute left before halftime, sophomore Artur Kielar (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) played a cross to the back post and sophomore Adrian Coardos (Evanston, Ill./Niles North) nearly opening the scoring as he put his shot off the bar.

After the interval, the Huskies had another great chance to claim the game's first goal as sophomore Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) beat Novotny at the near post, only to see his shot hit the post and stay out.

Five minutes later, NIU had a free kick on the edge of the Eastern Illinois box and Rodriguez had another great chance that was saved by Novotny.

In the 71st minute, Eastern Illinois (3-9-1) went in front on a goal from Brendan McDonough. Julian Montoya stripped a Huskie defender on the edge of the box and found McDonough all alone inside the area. McDonough made no mistake, firing a shot past Donnally to put the Panthers in front.

NIU immediately went back on the front-foot as Molina had a shot that forced a save less than a minute after the goal.

In the final 10 minutes, freshman Ethan Pitre (Minneapolis, Minn./Prairie Seeds Academy) had a pair of chances, and Molina had another, but Novotny stopped them all as Eastern Illinois held on for the 1-0 victory.

NIU will return to conference play on Saturday night, Oct. 15, as it hosts 23rd-ranked Akron in the Mid-American Conference home opener. Game time against the Zips is scheduled for 6 p.m.