DEKALB, Ill. -- Sophomore Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) scored in the 80th minute to earn the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team a 1-1 draw against Green Bay on Friday night (Sept. 6) at the NIU Soccer Complex. 

"I'm somewhere stuck between disappointed and pleased that we found a way to comeback," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "We gave up two shots on goal, so to concede a goal is disappointing, and to only score one after so much possession and chances is a disappointment. But at the same time, after the start we have had, for the guys to respond and not give up, not break the plan and find a way to equalize, I was very happy with that."

Green Bay (1-0-2) opened the scoring in the 19th minute on a goal from Clay Brown. Andre Baires played a ball from the back up to Brown who collected near the edge of the box and slipped a shot just inside the back post to give the Phoenix the early lead against the run of play. 

Four minutes later, NIU had its best chance of the opening half as sophomore Diego Sanz (Mompia, Spain/La Marina) unleashed a shot from outside the box that Green Bay goalkeeper Jamison Yoder parried off the crossbar before the Phoenix defense could scramble it away. 

NIU (0-2-1) outshot Green Bay 9-3 in the opening 45 minutes and held a 58/42 edge in possession but was unable to break through the Phoenix backline as the visitors took a 1-0 lead into the break.

The Huskies continued to have the better of the play after the intermission, sophomore Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) did well to bring a ball down from sophomore Lawrence Kwazema (River State, Nigeria/The International School of Minnesota) in the 70th minute before firing his shot over the bar. 

An equalizer finally came for the Huskies in the 80th minute when Anthony Markanich played a give-and-go with senior Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Marquette) near the end line inside the box and Markanich powered a shot through the hands of a helpless Yoder from close range. 

NIU continued to push for the winner inside the 90 minutes as redshirt freshman Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) got his head on a cross inside the box in the 85th minute but was unable to direct his header on target. 

The Huskies continued to control the play throughout the extra 20 minutes but only tested Yoder once, on a chance from Nick Markanich in the final minute of the first overtime. 

Green Bay had one last opportunity to break the deadlock on a free kick in the final seconds, but NIU senior goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./West Virginia) got down low to his left to make the save as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. 

The final second save was the only one of the night for Dziedzic as the Huskies finished the night with a 22-7 edge in shots; Yoder made six saves for Green Bay. NIU finished the contest with a 60/40 edge in possession. 

NIU will return to action on Monday, September 9, as the Huskies travel to Dayton, Ohio, to meet the Flyers. Kickoff at Dayton is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT and the game will be available on ESPN+.