BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Sophomore Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) scored the opening goal in the 14th minute but the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team was unable to hold the lead as it fell to Bowling Green, 3-1, on Saturday night at Cochrane Stadium. 

"I said to the guys afterward that this 90 minutes summed up our season," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought we played well in the second half, even down a man, even down two men. The guys were fighting and playing well for each other, but we just dug ourselves in a hole that was too much to come back from. We showed today that we have the character and desire to succeed, but we let ourselves down with a below-par 30 minutes in the first half."

Bowling Green (7-8-1, 1-2-1 MAC) was on the front foot early in the contest but it was Molina who opened the scoring for the Huskies in the 14th minute. 

NIU broke in toward the Falcon goal with four players and sophomore Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Georg-Buechner Gym) had the initial shot that was deflected away by Bowling Green goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia, but it fell into the path of Molina whose shot just cross the goal line in front a diving Falcon defenders to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. 

In the 22nd minute, Huskie sophomore goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./East Leyden) saved a penalty kick from Bowling Green's Tate Robertson; Dziedzic made nine saves in the contest. 

The Falcons would equalize in the 27th minute through Robertson. A cross came in from the left of Dziedzic who got a hand to it, but only enough to punch it toward Robertson who fired home from 12 yards to level the contest. 

Just four minutes later Bowling Green moved in front on a goal from Alexis Souahy. An initial pass from Ebenezer Ackon squirted free from Dziedzic and allowed Souahy to finish from close range as the Falcons took a 2-1 lead. 

Less than a minute before halftime, Bowling Green doubled it advantage. After a steal by Robertson, Chris Brennan was 1-on-1 with Dziedzic and was able to beat the Huskie goalkeeper to give Bowling Green a 3-1 advantage heading into the interval. 

A quarter of an hour into the second half, NIU (3-10-1, 0-3-1 MAC) had a chance to cut the Bowling Green lead in half but the shot from Maertins was cleared off the line by the Falcon defense. 

Chances continued to come for both teams, including a trio of efforts from senior Luke Read (Ilford, England/Barking Abbey School). The Huskie center back had a shot saved in the 78th minute, a shot go high in the 81st and an effort sail wide in the 86th.

NIU's final chance of the contest again fell to Read in the 90th minute, but his chance went high as Bowling Green claimed a 3-1 victory. 

Mwembia made five saves for the Falcons in the contest. 

NIU will finish the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 4, when it travels to 14th-ranked Akron. Game time against the Zips is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.