MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team opened Mid-American Conference play with a 1-1 draw on Saturday night at West Virginia. The Huskies got on the board first in the 27th minute but a leveler from the Mountaineers in the 38th meant the points were shared in the league opener. 

"We are happy at the end of the day to come away with a point," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought we played well, the effort and the commitment was excellent. A lot of the things that have been missing we found today, so that was good. I really thought this was a game we could have won, but West Virginia is a good team and scored a nice goal."

Sophomore Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Georg-Buechner Gym) called West Virginia goalkeeper Steven Tekesky into action early in the contest as Maertins found himself free inside the box off a cross from the right side, but his header went straight into the hands of Mountaineer goalkeeper.  

Still inside the opening five minute, NIU goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./East Leyden) made a good save on an attempt from Jad Arslan to keep the game scoreless early. 

The Huskies opened the scoring in the 27th minute. Junior Max Voss (Herten, Germany/Staedtisches Gymnasium Herten) whipped in a corner toward Maertins at the near post but a West Virginia defender was first to it, looping a header past his own goalkeeper into the net at the back post to give NIU (3-7-1, 0-0-1) a 1-0 lead. 

West Virginia (6-3-3, 0-0-1 MAC) equalized in the 38th minute through Rushawn Larmond. Sebastian Garcia-Herreros and Louis Thomas worked the ball down the wing for the Mountaineers and a low cross from Garcia-Herreros found Larmond who redirected a shot past Dziedzic to pull West Virginia level. 

In the final minute of the half, junior Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) had a chance to push the Huskies back in front as his shot from near the corner of the box took a deflection and went just over the West Virginia net. 

After the interval, the Mountaineers continued to enjoy a statistical edge in shots, few of which threatened the Huskie goal as just three of 18 chances were on goal for West Virginia. 

In the 70th minute, Rodriguez found a bit of space and curled a shot just wide of the far post. Five minutes later Arslan got on the end of a cross for West Virginia but couldn't direct his header on target as the 90 minute ended level. 

Midway through the first overtime period, the Huskies were reduced to 10-men as junior Giovanni Pacheco (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena) was sent off. 

In the second extra period, West Virginia's Kevin Morris whistled a shot just wide of the top corner in the 102nd minute. Arslan had the game's final chance in the 105th as he couldn't direct a shot on frame and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. 

Dziedzic made a pair of saves for the Huskies, Tekesky had one save for the Mountaineers. 

"West Virginia has a nice team and it is a difficult place to come," said Swan. "We came in giving them a lot of respect, knowing it would be a tough place to play, but we are still looking at it like we could have won the game. Once you take the lead, it is always disappointing to lose it. I think there is a lot of belief taken from this game and, with only five conference games, everyone is that much more important."

NIU will return home next Saturday, Oct. 14, when the Huskies host 12th-ranked Western Michigan in their MAC home opener. Game time against the Broncos is scheduled for 7 p.m.