MADISON, Wis. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team drew, 1-1, with Wisconsin on Tuesday night at the McClimon Track/Soccer Complex. Sophomore Adrian Coardos (Evanston, Ill./Niles North) was the goalscorer for the Huskies.

"On the whole, today was solid," said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. "The result was never going to be a big factor to me, whether we win, lose or draw, that is not the most important thing in these games. The most important thing is seeing the guys on the field, trying to implement what we are doing in training and, from that standpoint, today was hugely valuable.

"There were definitely some positives and, obviously playing a team with the quality of Wisconsin, of course they are going to expose some things and that helps us see where we have to go from here and what areas of the game we have to tighten up."

Coardos opened the scoring for the Huskies in the 21st minute. Off a free kick from just inside midfield, the ball was played into the box where junior Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School) latched onto it and fired a shot that was saved and deflected into the path of Coardos who found the back of the net to give the Huskies the 1-0 lead just before the midway point of the opening half.

Senior Daegan DeBono (Lapeer, Mich./Lapeer West) had a chance to double the advantage for NIU in the 37th minute as he collected a second ball off a corner kick and looked for the top corner from the edge of the box, but his effort was saved by Wisconsin goalkeeper Casey Beyers.

Six minutes later the Badgers pulled even on a goal from Blake Carr. A chipped diagonal ball from near midfield found Carr behind the NIU backline and he slotted past NIU junior goalkeeper Eddie Kim (Morton Grove, Ill./Niles North) to even the contest, 1-1, heading to the intermission.

Neither team was able to find a breakthrough after the intermission, but both teams created chances. In the 64th minute, Wisconsin had its best chance of the half on a shot from Christopher Mueller that was save by NIU freshman goalkeeper Christoph Koninger (Achern, Germany/Gymnasium Achern).

NIU's best opportunity to break the deadlock in the second 45 minutes came on a shot from sophomore Noah Brodie (Scottsdale, Ariz./Carbondale Community) in the 80th minute that was saved by Wisconsin goalkeeper Phillip Schilling.

The Huskies will close their exhibition slate on Sunday, Aug. 21, when they host Drake at 3 p.m., at the NIU Soccer Complex.

Scoring Summary:
NIU – Adrian Coardos (21st minute)
UW – Blake Carr (43rd minute)