FORT WAYNE, Ind. – After conceding the first goal of the match, senior Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek), sophomore Miguel Maynez Jr. (El Paso, Texas/New Mexico) and sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) each found the back of the net as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team earned a 3-1, comeback victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday night (Sept. 20) at the Hefner Soccer Complex. 

"We started out pretty brightly, I think our scouting report on (Purdue) Fort Wayne was spot on, we were pretty comfortable with what we were going to face, so it was a little frustrating to give up the first goal," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "It came from a couple of mistakes on our part, so to concede from a set piece was frustrating. 

"But the guys kept their composure, I thought they played really well for the remainder of the first half, and as the game went on, we were just creating more and more chances. Christian Molina was excellent today, he deserved his goal, and I pretty confident that once we got onto level terms that we would create more chances."

NIU (2-4-1) was on the front-foot right from the opening kickoff and the Huskies could have taken the lead in the fourth minute when Molina had a chance that went high from about 10 yards. 

The Huskies nearly went in front in the 19th minute when Molina clipped a cross toward the back post where sophomore Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) got on the end of it but Purdue Fort Wayne goalkeeper Tor Erik Larsen was able to scramble it away. 

Purdue Fort Wayne (3-4-0) opened the scoring against the run of play in the 23rd minute. The Mastodons earned a free kick just on the corner of the box and Emil Fosse sent the free kick inside the six-yard box where Alex Frank powered a free header past NIU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) to give Purdue Fort Wayne a 1-0 lead. 

NIU leveled the match in the 34th minute on Molina's third career goal. Sophomore Adrian Corona (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) slipped a ball into the path of Molina who turned and took a couple of touches into the box before firing a shot past Larsen to even the contest from about 10 yards out. 

Maynez nearly added a second for the Huskies in the 42nd minute as he carved his way through the Purdue Fort Wayne defense before seeing his shot saved by the feet of Larsen. 

The Huskies had two more opportunities in the opening 45 minutes with redshirt freshman Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) and Nick Markanich both forcing saves from Larsen as NIU and Purdue Fort Wayne went into the interval tied, 1-1. 

It took NIU less than two minutes after the intermission to go in front. Junior Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) sliced open the Mastodon defense with a ball from midfield that was flicked by Banuelos toward Maynez Jr. who played a one-two with Molina before the transfer from New Mexico tucked a shot inside the back post to put the Huskies in front. 

The Huskies continued to pile on the pressure as Welch nearly curled a shot into the net in the 49th minute. 

NIU did double its advantage in the 62nd minute as Maynez Jr. flicked a ball over the top of a Purdue Fort Wayne defender and into the run of Nick Markanich who made no mistake from just inside the box, beating Larsen for his third goal in as many games to give the Huskies a 3-1 advantage. 

The one-way traffic continued as Molina nearly added his second in the 68th minute with a low shot that was turned away by Larsen. Off the resulting corner kick, Anthony Markanich was also stopped by Larsen. 

Anthony Markanich had another chance in the 83rd minute as he dribbled his way into space and fired just wide Larsen who was at full stretch. 

The Mastodons nearly got a consolation goal in the 86th minute as, off a second ball from a corner, Dominik Hils rattled the bottom side of the crossbar, but the ball stayed out and the Huskies earned the 3-1 road victory. 

Sanchez finished the contest with one save for NIU; Larsen made nine stops for Purdue Fort Wayne. The Huskies held a 27-8 edge in total shots in the contest. 

NIU will return home on Tuesday night, September 24, as the Huskies took to retain the Lewang Trophy when they host Milwaukee. Kickoff against the Panthers is scheduled for 7 p.m., and admission to all NIU Soccer games is free of charge.