BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – A penalty kick goal in the 95^th minute by Bowling Green's Achille Robin gave the Falcons a 2-1 overtime win over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team at Cochrane Stadium in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Tuesday night.
 
The two sides met for the second time in four days in Bowling Green, as the Huskies and Falcons met on the final day of the regular season with Bowling Green winning 1-0 to host Tuesday's quarterfinal.
 
"I thought we played well tonight and created a lot of really good opportunities," said head coach Ryan Swan after the game. "Ultimately, the thing that cost us tonight was we didn't take advantage of those opportunities and finished them. We created a lot of good looks on goal so there's certainly a lot of positives to take out of the game."
 
Bowling Green (12-6-1) scored early in the match to take a 1-0 lead. Michael Montemurri volleyed in a cross from Charlie Maciejewski seven minutes into the quarterfinals to put the Falcons on the board. Jan Maertens (Rheinfelden, Germany) nearly tied the match in the 13^th minute when he came free in the 18-yard box and fired a low shot that was stopped by Bowling Green goalkeeper Anthony Mwembia, leading to a corner kick for NIU. Luis Hernandez (Mesquite, Texas/Lone Star) had a shot stopped by Mwembia off the ensuing corner and Maertens followed with a shot off the crossbar. The Falcons came close to taking a 2-0 lead in the 18^th minute when Chris Sullivan put a free kick off the crossbar.
 
NIU (7-10-1) drew level in the 22^nd minute. Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) made a run up the left side and made a sliding play at the end line to keep the ball in play. The sophomore defender got the ball to Maertins, who slid in and snuck the ball past Mwembia and just inside the left post to make the score 1-1. The Huskies came close to taking the lead in the 25^th minute but a Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) header went wide of goal. Hernandez also put a shot wide off of a corner in the 39^th minute. The Huskies outshot Bowling Green 11-6 in the first half as the two teams stayed even at halftime.
 
"Our guys were confident coming into the game that there were areas we could have success," Swan said. "It was great stuff from Alex Welch and Anthony Markanich to create the opportunity for Jan to go down to the right spot and finish."
 
The Falcons controlled possession early in the second half and had three shots in the first five minutes. The third shot from Chris Sullivan was saved by NIU goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) and led to a Huskies counterattack. Nick Markanich finished the counter with a shot that was saved by Mwembia and led to an NIU corner kick. Adrian Lara (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Township) attempted to give NIU the lead off the ensuing corner in the 54^th minute but his shot was stopped by Mwembia. The Huskies' best chance to go in front came in the 56^th minute. NIU caught Mwembia at the top of the box as Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) played a throughball to Maertins, whose shot on a wide open net went wide. The Huskies kept attacking with Nick Markanich putting a pair of shots on goal in the 58^th and 62^nd minutes, respectively, but Mwembia stopped both of them.
 
NIU controlled possession for the first 25 minutes of the second half. Bowling Green then had a chance to take the lead with 20 minutes to play when a loose-ball scramble in the box ended with the ball at Sullivan's feet eight feet from the NIU goal. Sullivan's shot was blocked and the NIU defense remained resolute. Sanchez did his part to keep the match tied when he stopped a header from Montemurri with less than five minutes to play. NIU almost won the match in the 88^th minute when Pierce Ugarte (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) headed a free kick in the box, forcing Mwembia to make a leaping save. That ended up being the last shot of regulation as the two sides headed into extra time tied 1-1.
 
Bowling Green had the first scoring chance in overtime as Vinny Worner put a header wide of goal just over two minutes in. The Falcons then earned a penalty kick in the 95^th minute when a Bowling Green player was taken down in the box. Achille Robin stepped up to the spot and hit a low shot that got just under the right hand of a diving Sanchez and into the goal to give the Falcons the 2-1 win.
 
NIU finishes the season with a record of 7-10-1. Bowling Green advances to take on top-seeded Akron in the semifinals Friday at Akron.
 
"I think we had higher expectations on this season and everybody, the players, the coaching staff, are all disappointed that its coming to an end," said Swan.
 
--NIU--