MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Junior Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) scored two goals and recorded two assists as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team claimed a 4-2 victory at West Virginia on Friday night (Oct. 18) at Dick Dlesk Stadium. The Mountaineers came back to tie the game twice but two goals in the final 20 minutes helped NIU claim its first ever victory in Morgantown.

"We are proud of the guys for battling in a crazy game and finding a way to win," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "On essentially all of our chances, the guys were doing the things we are asking of them, getting in the right positions, and then it is all about holding your composure. I was proud of the guys on all those goals, when they got in those situations they held their nerve."

West Virginia (6-6-1, 0-2-0 MAC) made the brighter start and NIU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) was tested just two minutes into the match as he tipped away a shot from Andres Muriel Albino for a corner.

The Mountaineers continued to see more of the ball in the opening 30 minutes before NIU (6-7-1, 1-1-0 MAC) opened the scoring.

Just past the half-hour mark, senior Ethan Pitre (Minneapolis, Minn./Prairie Seeds Academy) gave NIU the lead against the run of play. Welch flicked on a goal kick from inside the center circle and, after a misplay by a West Virginia defender, Pitre was in alone one-v-one with Mountaineer goalkeeper Steven Tekesky and the Huskie senior made no mistake, slotting home the game's opening goal in the 32nd minute to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

It took the Mountaineers less than a minute to answer as Rodrigo Robles Grajera evened the match at 1-1. A cross from Tony Pineda pinballed off Sanchez and a Huskie defender before falling right to the feet of Robles Grajera who tapped it in from close range to level the contest.

West Virginia had a chance to go in front in the 40th minute as a through ball split the NIU defense and found Robles Grajera, whose shot was saved by the foot of Sanchez. NIU immediately went back the other way as Welch found the run of senior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) in behind the Mountaineer defense but the NIU senior forward's effort went wide.

Seven minutes after halftime, West Virginia hit the crossbar as a chance from Pau Jimenez Albelda bounced off the bar before Sanchez tipped it over for a corner.

From the West Virginia corner, NIU went back in front as sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) finished off a perfect counterattack for the Huskies. NIU cleared the Mountaineer set piece and Welch picked up the ball in his own half, ghosted past a Mountaineer defender and fired a shot that was well saved by Tekesky down low with his left hand. The rebound fell right into the path of Markanich however and he finished into an open net to give NIU a 2-1 lead in the 54th minute.

The Huskies nearly doubled their advantage just a minute later as Markanich got on the end of a cross at the back post but couldn't direct his volley on target.

West Virginia equalized again in the 66th minute through Ryan Kellogg. Albert Andres-Llop sent a dangerous cross through the NIU box and Kellogg got the final touch with his head to beat Sanchez and level the match at 2-2.

NIU went in front for the third time in the 71st minute on a goal by Welch. Markanich whipped in a teasing cross near the top of the box and Tekesky came well off his line to punch, just getting a hand to it, but the rebound fell kindly toward Welch who fired past a scrambling Tekesky into the vacated goal to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead.

Welch put the game out of reach with his second goal of the night in the 89th minute. With West Virginia pushing for an equalizer, a Mountaineer turnover gave the ball to sophomore Louis Sala (West Bloomfield, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's) who sprung Welch all alone on the counter into the West Virginia half and the junior midfielder converted his second of the night, beating Tekesky one-v-one to give the Huskies a 4-2 victory.

"Obviously, he was really good," Swan said of Welch, who played a part in all four Huskie goals. "We know his range of passing, and when he gets running at players he can open up defenses and he showed that tonight. We have always know it is there, so we are hoping he can continue that and get a little confidence from tonight."

Sanchez made six saves in the win for the Huskies, Tekesky made a pair of stops for the Mountaineers.

The Huskies will be back in action next Friday, October 25, when they host Western Michigan in the final home game of the regular season. Kickoff against the Broncos is set for 7 p.m.