DEKALB, Ill. – Redshirt freshman Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) scored in the second minute of overtime to lift the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday night (Sept. 24) at the NIU Soccer Complex. Banuelos' 25-yard free kick gave the Huskies their third consecutive victory and helped NIU retain the Lewang Trophy. 
 
"That was a good Milwaukee team, tough to breakdown," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "This one feels a little like a conference game, being a local rival and playing for a trophy, so it had a little more of an edge this one. I thought the guys did well and I think they are ready for the tough games coming up." 

Milwaukee (4-4-0) had the first good chance of the contest in the 10th minute as combination play down the right wing led to a great chance from Evan Conway inside the box but NIU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) made an excellent save to keep the contest scoreless in the early going. 

Sanchez made four saves while picking up his first career clean sheet. 

NIU (3-4-1) nearly took the lead through sophomore Pierce Ugarte (Oak Lawn, Ill./Oak Lawn) in the 18th minute. A well-worked Huskie set piece culminated with a free header for the Huskie center back inside the six-yard box, but he couldn't direct his effort on target. 

Four minutes later, sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) found a bit of space inside the box and fired a shot inches wide before taking a tackle from a Panther defender. The Huskies had a narrow, 53 percent edge in possession in the opening 45 minutes but the teams went into the break deadlocked. 

Just after the hour mark, senior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) had the first chance of the second stanza for NIU, whistling a shot wide. 

In the 70th minute, Sanchez was called upon for the only time in the second half, stopping a shot from Conway as both teams continued to look for the breakthrough. 

A Huskie corner kick in the 77th minute was half-cleared by the Panther defense before finding its way wide right for the Huskies. Junior Carlos Valdez (Houston, Texas/Richland College) swung a cross into the box where Markanich connected with an audacious overhead kick that sailed just high. 

NIU had two more half-chances before the end of the 90 minutes but neither threatened the Milwaukee goal as the contest went into overtime. 

Less than two minutes into the extra period, junior Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) drew a free kick about 25 yards from goal. Banuelos stepped up and rocketed a shot into the upper left-hand corner, past a helpless Freddy Lorenzen in goal for Milwaukee, who could get nowhere near it, as the Huskies raced away in celebration of the overtime, game-winner.

"I thought the winner might come from Enrique or Lawrence (Kwazema)," said Swan. "Both came on late and have the ability to win games. It was great, Enrique's first career goal for us, and such an important one. He does that all the time in practice, so we figured there was an opportunity there."

NIU will take its three-game win streak on the road on Saturday, September 28, as the Huskies visit Western Illinois. Kickoff against the Leathernecks is slated for 1 p.m.