CHICAGO, Ill. – Two goals in three minutes led 15th-ranked Loyola past the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Tuesday night at the Loyola Soccer Park. The Ramblers scored in the 29th and 31st minutes to down the Huskies in NIU's final non-conference match of the season.
"Credit to Loyola, they are a very good, complete team without many weaknesses," said NIU head coach
Eric Luzzi. "That being said, I was disappointed in the manner that they scored their two goals. We talked about it and trained the importance of tracking runners and our lack of attention to that detail led to their goals.
"I was, however, pleased with our response in the second half. We did well to force them into a number of turnovers which led to some decent chances for us. Although we are disappointed with the result, our most important game of the week is our conference game against Bowling Green on Saturday, so that is where all of our focus will now turn."
Freshman goalkeeper
Christoph Koninger (Achern, Germany/Gymnasium Achern), making his second appearance of the season, was called into action for the first time in the 20th minute, making a save on a header from Grant Stoneman.
Loyola (11-1-1) opened the scoring in the 29th minute. Brody Kraussel sent in a cross from the right side that was headed across the face of goal and in by Aidan Megally to give the Ramblers a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Loyola doubled its advantage on a goal by Alec Lasinski. Marius Kullmann sent in a low cross that Lasinski got on the end of near the six yard box and he beat Koninger to give put the Ramblers in front 2-0, a lead they would take into halftime.
It took until the 75th minute for either team to register a shot on target in the second half. Loyola's Connor Stevenson had the first shot on goal in the half, but it was saved by Koninger.
Sophomore
Artur Kielar (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) had a chance for the Huskies five minutes before time, but Kielar fired the shot high over the bar as Loyola sealed the 2-0 victory. With the setback, NIU fell to 1-8-4 on the season.
The Huskies will return to action on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 22, when they host Bowling Green. Game time against the Falcons is scheduled for 7 p.m., at the NIU Soccer Complex.
