DEKALB, Ill. -- Freshman Diego Sanz (Mompia, Spain/La Marina) scored his first collegiate goal as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team recorded a 1-0 victory over Western Illinois on Wednesday night at the NIU Soccer Complex. 

Junior goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./West Virginia) posted his third shutout of the season as the Huskies improved to 4-2; Western Illinois fell to 1-4-1. 

"We said coming into this week that we wanted to stop the goals against after giving up five goals in two games," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "We have done that today, we gave up very few chances, got the early lead. We created a lot of chances, the shots on goal and opportunities created were really good."

NIU went in front in the 13th minute on a goal by Sanz. The Huskies won a free kick out wide and sophomore Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) whipped a ball into the box that was headed by freshman Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) toward Sanz who headed past Western Illinois goalkeeper Tim Trilk to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. 

"Diego was saying that it was his first goal in three years (at any level)," said Swan. "It is nice that he got that. We had focused on set pieces this week, we were hoping to get something from a corner kick or a (free) kick, so that was pleasing. Anthony (Markanich) did a great job winning the ball and Diego got himself into fantastic position to finish it off." 

The Huskies nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute as junior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) got on the end of a cross but sent his effort high. Three minutes before halftime, senior Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) cut inside and fired a shot that looked destined for the upper corner of the goal before being deflected away by the head of a Leatherneck defender. 

After halftime, NIU's first chance came in the 58th minute as the Huskies countered a Western Illinois corner kick but the shot from Maertins was blocked. 

Junior Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) had a chance to double the NIU lead in the 67th minute, but his shot was fought off by Trilk as Western Illinois remained within one. 

In the final five minutes of the contest, freshman Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) had a pair of chances to put the game out of reach. The first opportunity came after a good ball from Welch slipped the Huskie freshman in alone on goal but Trilk stayed big to deny the opportunity. Less than a minute later, Nick Markanich had another chance as he was in alone on the Western Illinois goalkeeper and dragged his shot wide. 

The Huskies will conclude their current three-game homestand on Tuesday night, Sept. 18, as they host UIC. Kickoff against the Flames is scheduled for 7 p.m.