KALAMAZOO, Mich. – All three goals were scored in the opening 20 minutes as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team dropped its final road game of the regular season, 2-1, at Western Michigan on Saturday afternoon at the WMU Soccer Complex. 

"We dug a hole for ourselves again conceding really soft goals," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "While I think we probably did have the better of possession, Western Michigan did a really good job of limiting our chances, I don't think there were many clear-cut chances in the game. It was a frustrating afternoon and we have to pick ourselves up and get ready for next week."

NIU (8-7-1, 1-3 MAC) had the first looks at goal as the Huskies earned a corner in the ninth minute of the match. A shot from the corner by sophomore Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) was blocked, the follow up from senior Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) was blocked and a third chance from junior Irvin Dominguez (El Paso, Texas/Richland College) went high. 

Western Michigan (9-5-3, 1-1-2 MAC) opened the scoring in the 14th minute as Anthony Bowie took the ball off the foot of a Huskie defender and was in all alone on goal, slipping a shot underneath NIU junior goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./West Virginia) to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead. 

Just three minutes later the Huskies were back level as Rodriguez scored his second goal of the season. The Huskie senior unleashed a shot from outside the box that beat Western Michigan goalkeeper Elijah Michaels to even the match in the 17th minute, 1-1. 

The wild opening 20 minutes continued as, exactly one minute after the Rodriguez goal, the Huskies were whistled for a foul in the box off a Western Michigan free kick, giving the Broncos a penalty. Cameron Sipple stepped up for the Broncos and converted as WMU reclaimed the lead. 

Just moments after the second goal from Western Michigan, NIU had another look at goal as a shot from Dominguez was saved by Michaels. The match settled down for the remaining 25 minutes of the opening half with neither team recording a shot as Western Michigan took a 2-1 lead into the interval. 

The Huskies went on the attack immediately after halftime as freshman Louis Sala (West Bloomfield, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's) slipped a ball into the path of junior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) but a Western Michigan defender got in the way of the shot attempt by Maertins as it was knocked out for a corner; the Broncos cleared the ensuing corner kick. 

Jake Rufe found himself in behind the NIU defense in the 50th minute and Dziedzic reacted quickly to make a save as Western Michigan continued to maintain its one-goal advantage. 

Off a Huskie free kick in the 56th minute, Sala put the ball on the head of freshman Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) who headed toward goal, forcing an outstanding save from Western Michigan substitute goalkeeper Lukas Von Lienen. 

A corner from Sala created a dangerous chance for the Huskies in the 72nd minute as the original ball went beyond the back post and was headed back across toward Markanich whose shot went just high. 

Markanich had another chance in the 77th minute as senior Noah Brodie (Scottsdale, Ariz./Carbondale Community) on the left side found Maertins who played the ball toward Markanich near the top of the box but his shot was saved by a diving Von Lienen in goal for Western Michigan. 

With just under three minutes to play, the Huskies had another chance as the ball was played into the box and ping-ponged into the feet of Maertins, but his shot was blocked as he began to lose his footing inside the six-yard box and Western Michigan held on for the home win. 

Dziedzic made three saves in the match for the Huskies; Michaels had one stop in the first half for Western Michigan while Von Lienen made two after the intermission for the Broncos. 

NIU will return home on Saturday, November 3, as the Huskies host West Virginia. Kickoff against the Mountaineers is slated for 7 p.m.