DEKALB, Ill. – A pair of goals from senior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) helped lead the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Western Michigan on Friday night (Oct. 25) at the NIU Soccer Complex. NIU took the two-goal lead in the first half, only to see Western Michigan pull level before Maertins netted the game-winner in the 76th minute. 

"Western Michigan are a fantastic team, so when they brought the game back to 2-2, we were a little nervous," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "You need players to make big plays in big games, Martin (Sanchez) stepped up huge with the penalty save and Jan (Maertins) finding a winner. It was a big gut check for us, and it was a big step forward for the program."

The Broncos hit the woodwork twice in the opening 20 minutes of the contest as both teams showed attacking intent in the early going. Giuseppe Vitale rang a shot off the bar in the 15th minute and Charlie Sharp hit the crossbar in the 18th minute as the match remained goalless. 

It was NIU (7-7-1, 2-1-0 MAC) that struck first as Maertins found the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season in the 23rd minute. Sophomore Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) played a low teasing ball into the box and Maertins was first to it, redirecting it past Western Michigan goalkeeper Isaac Walker to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. 

Four minutes later the Huskies doubled their advantage as Markanich fired a shot from the left side that beat Walker low at the near post, giving NIU a 2-0 lead in the 27th minute. 

Western Michigan (9-5-1, 1-1-1 MAC) grabbed a goal back before the interval. A corner from Max Keenan found the head of Dylan Sing at the back post. Sing's header came back off the crossbar and fell right to Antonio Rizzo who swept home a goal to halve the Huskie advantage, 2-1, heading into the intermission. 

After the break it was the Broncos who started the brighter of the two teams and Western Michigan got its reward in the 65th minute. A free kick from near midfield from Paul Liagre found Sing who played it into the path of Charlie Sharp to finish from inside the box, tying the match at 2-2. 

NIU was whistled for a foul inside the box three minutes later, sending Sam Biek to the penalty spot for the Broncos. Huskie redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) guessed the right way and made an outstanding save at full stretch to deny Biek and keep the match level. 

Sanchez finished the match with a pair of saves. 

With just under a quarter-hour to play, Maertins scored his second of the night to put the Huskies back in front for good. Anthony Markanich did well to chase down a ball near the end line and slip a low ball into the path of sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) inside the box. Nick Markanich flicked it on toward Maertins just outside the top of the six-yard box and the German forward made no mistake, finishing past Western Michigan substitute goalkeeper Lukas Von Lienen to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead. 

The Broncos threw numbers forward for the remainder of the contest but were unable to penetrate the NIU defense as the Huskies won their second consecutive conference game, snapping an eight-match winless streak against Western Michigan. 

NIU will return to action next Saturday, November 2, when the Huskies travel to Akron for the first of two-straight road matches to close the regular season. Kickoff against the Zips is slated for 6 p.m. CT.