DEKALB, Ill. – Goals of either side of halftime from junior forward Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) led the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Wednesday afternoon (March 31) at the NIU Soccer Complex. 

"We knew it was going to be tough, SIUE had a week or so off because of game cancelations, so we knew they would be well rested, and it was going to be tough for our guys after playing four days ago," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "It was a really good performance today, we held possession of the ball well, we showed good composure, scored a couple of nice goals and could have had a couple more. Very happy with the performance."

Playing in extremely windy conditions, the first time either goalkeeper was called into action came in the 23rd minute as a chance from Markanich was pushed away by SIUE goalkeeper Lluis Martorell. Less than a minute later, the Cougars had a long distance shot from Vincent Jackson sail over the NIU goal.

Late in the first half, SIUE created a few more chances, including a header from Sam Layton off a corner that went high in the 43rd minute. 

NIU (4-5-1, 3-3-0 MAC) broke the deadlock a minute later as Markanich scored his sixth goal of the season. Junior Adrian Corona (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) whipped a cross into the box where Markanich collected near the penalty spot and fired a low shot into the corner past Martorell to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the 44th minute. 

Just a minute into the second half, NIU sophomore goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) was called upon for the first time in the contest, stopping a low shot from distance by Andres Delascio. 

The Huskies doubled their advantage as Markanich scored his conference-leading seventh goal of the season in the 50th minute. Senior Irvin Dominguez (El Paso, Texas/Richland College) collected the ball in midfield and played it into space behind the Cougar defense. Markanich collected the ball and was one-on-one with Martorell, slotting the ball into the corner past the SIUE goalkeeper for his brace, giving NIU a 2-0 advantage. 

"He has a lot of confidence right now," Swan said of Markanich. "You can see it; his game has grown over his time with us. I thought he took both goals very well, particularly the first one, it was a difficult ball to deal with, but he brought it down and found the corner."

SIUE's (4-4-0, 1-4-0 MAC) best chance of the second half came in the 63rd minute as Jackson missed the target from close range. 

In the final 10 minutes, sophomore Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) had a pair of opportunities to add a third for NIU, but both chances were stopped by Martorell, who finished the contest with four saves. 

"We felt that we have given up too many easy goals over the course of the year but today the back four was exceptional," Swan said of the shutout. "Martin (Sanchez) was commanding them back there and it was nice to finish the game without conceding."

With the win, NIU goes level on points with Bowling Green and West Virginia atop the Mid-American Conference standings. 

The Huskies will head back on the road on Sunday, April 4, when they travel to Akron. Kickoff against the Zips is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN+.