SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A goal on either side of halftime helped lead Notre Dame to a 2-0 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Monday night (Aug. 30) at Alumni Stadium. Eno Nto scored in the first half and Matthew Roou tallied in the second to lift the Fighting Irish to the win despite the Huskies holding a 57/43 edge in possession.  

"We are disappointed to be coming out with a loss," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought there were a lot of really good moments for us. Our ball movement was good, and we had a lot of possession tonight, but they were more clinical than us in the end. We were unfortunate on the first goal, with a deflection that went in and the second they capitalized on our mistake at the back and got to goal very quickly. I think that was the difference between the two teams, we weren't as clinical as they were.

"Notre Dame are a very well-organized team, they did a good job of limiting our opportunities, but our decisions and our movement in the final third weren't quite as sharp as we hoped they would be."

In the 10th minute, Jack Lynn had a chance for Notre Dame as he got on the end of a low cross from the right and fired high from a tight angle at the top of the six-yard box. 

NIU's (1-1) first two shots came just around the quarter-hour mark. Adrian Corona (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) got on the end of a Roque Viegas Jr. (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Syracuse) cross and fired a shot high from just outside the box and, after the Huskies had a penalty shout for what appeared to be a Notre Dame handball in the box, Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) had a volley that was held by Notre Dame goalkeeper Bryan Dowd. 

Notre Dame (1-1) opened the scoring in the 22nd minute as a shot from outside the box by Nto took a big deflection and snuck inside the post, leaving NIU goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) with no chance as the Fighting Irish took the 1-0 lead. 

Lynn nearly doubled the advantage for Notre Dame as he muscled off a NIU defender and fired a shot from close range that was saved by Sanchez and cleared by Adrian Lara (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Township) in the 24th minute.

The Huskies had their best spell of possession late in the first half and a shot from Markanich forced a corner in the 41st minute. Two minutes later, Camilo Estrada's (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star) drive from distance went just wide as Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead into the interval. 

Neither team created much in the way of chances in the first 20 of the second half as the Fighting Irish continued to hold the one-goal lead. 

Notre Dame doubled its advantage in the 70th minute. Dawson McCartney whipped a ball into the box and Roou got on the end of it, redirecting the ball past Sanchez to give the Fighting Irish a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to play. 

With NIU chancing the game in the final minutes, Sanchez came up with a pair of excellent saves, the first coming in the 82nd minute as Lynn found himself in behind the Huskie defense and the NIU goalkeeper made a save with his feet. Sanchez made another outstanding stop in the 85th minute on a chance by McCartney. 

Sanchez finished the contest with five saves and Dowd also recorded five stops for Notre Dame. 

NIU will return home on Saturday, Sept. 4, when the Huskies host St. Thomas (Minn.). Kickoff against the Tommies is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the NIU Soccer Complex.