MACOMB, Ill. – Sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) scored in the eighth minute of overtime as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team topped Western Illinois, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 28). Senior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) opened the scoring early in the first half before Nick Markanich's golden goal tally gave NIU its fourth consecutive victory.  

"Today was a game where we had to dig deep to find a winner," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I didn't think we played particularly well, it was a sluggish performance. We opened well, scored a nice goal, but then all credit to Western (Illinois), they took it to us for a large chuck of the game and the game became very open.

"Martin Sanchez was arguably our best player, he had to come up with a couple of really big saves and then Nick (Markanich) finding a winner late on was certainly a sense of relief."

NIU (4-4-1) opened the scoring in the 13th minute as senior Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) played the ball toward Maertins inside the box. The senior forward fired a shot into the bottom corner, past a diving Timothy Trilk in goal for Western Illinois to give the Huskies the early lead.

Sophomore Miguel Maynez Jr. (El Paso, Texas/New Mexico) nearly added a second for the Huskies just five minutes later as hit effort hit the post.

Huskie redshirt freshman goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) was called upon for the first time in the contest in the 23rd minute as he stopped a shot from Enric Ferrer.

On either side of the half-hour mark the Huskies had a chance as junior Alex Welch (Carmarthen, Wales/King's College Madrid) missed high and wide in the 29th minute and sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) had an effort saved by Trilk in the 33rd minute.

Less than three minutes before halftime, Western Illinois (0-9-0) leveled the match through Ryan DeBois. Arian Mehrang played the ball into the box toward DeBois and his acrobatic effort found the bottom corner past Sanchez to even the contest, 1-1, heading into halftime.

Just past the hour mark, the Leathernecks had a pair of chances that were both off-target. Daisuke Otsuka had another look at goal for Western Illinois in the 66th minute, but again Sanchez was not troubled by the shot.

Three minutes later, redshirt freshman Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) tested Trilk with a low shot but the Leatherneck goalkeeper was able to make the stop as the match remained tied.

Sanchez came up with a save on a shot by Luke Duball for Western Illinois in the 82nd minute and sophomore Diego Sanz (Mompia, Spain/La Marina) was stopped by Trilk in the final minute of regulation as neither team could break the deadlock and the contest went into overtime.

In the early minutes of the extra period, both teams had looks at goal but neither goalkeeper was called upon to make a save.

Sanchez then made a stop on a shot by DuBois in the 98th minute and from the save the Huskies sprung on the counter with Anthony Markanich feeding Nick Markanich who finished past Trilk for his fourth goal of the season to win the match in overtime for the Huskies.

Trilk made three saves in goal for Western Illinois; Sanchez recorded five stops for NIU as the Huskies won their fourth consecutive match with the redshirt freshman goalkeeper between the posts.

NIU will be back in action on Tuesday, October 1, as the Huskies travel to Chicago to meet UIC. Kickoff against the Flames is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be available on ESPN3.