MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Four second half goals gave the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team a 4-0 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday night (Sept. 14) in the annual matchup for the Lewang Cup at Engelmann Stadium. Miguel Maynez Jr. (El Paso, Texas/New Mexico) broke the deadlock in the 48th minute and the Huskies never looked back, with Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais), Zachariah Thomas (Burnaby, British Columbia/Moscrop Secondary) and Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) also adding goals. 

With the win, NIU improves to 5-1-0 while Milwaukee falls to 2-2-0. The Huskies have now won four consecutive games, by a combined score of 16-1.  

"I'm obviously very pleased," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "It was the first game of the season where we were playing for a trophy, so it added a little spice to the game and the guys responded exceptionally well and put in a fantastic performance. There is a lot of confidence around the team right now and in the last few games we had been scoring goals early, so this was a new challenge, going in 0-0 at halftime. It was great to see that didn't faze the guys at all. They are bought in; they knew the chances were being created and that more would come."

NIU broke the deadlock just three minutes after the interval through Maynez. The Huskies earned three consecutive corners and on the third, the El Paso, Texas native bent the ball inside the back post, past the outstretched Milwaukee goalkeeper Gijs Van Schouten to put the Huskies in front. 

It was the first goal for the Huskies directly from a corner, an "Olympico," since Richard Hall in a 4-1 win over SIU Edwardsville on Oct. 22, 2014. 

NIU goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) was tested for the first, and only, time in the 64th minute as a skipping shot from Joshua Kidder was blocked away by the Huskie goalkeeper. 

Nick Markanich doubled the advantage for the Huskies with his sixth goal of the season in the 71st minute. Adrian Lara (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Township) played a ball out of the back into the run of Nick Markanich who moved into the box and tucked the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle to give NIU a 2-0 lead. 

The goal was the sixth of the season for Nick Markanich, tying him with SMU's Gabriel Costa and Texas Rio Grande Valley's Reshaun Walkes for the national lead. It was also the fourth consecutive contest in which the Bourbonnais, Ill., native has found the back of the net. 

"The big thing you see from Nick (Markanich) is that his game has developed so much. His quality with both feet, his heading has gotten better, he looks dangerous all the time," said Swan. "One of the big things for them, both Anthony and Nick have enjoyed success from as soon as they got to NIU, but they never rested on that. They have been working hard to improve, and their aspirations are to continue playing beyond college, they have to continue that work, but they are embracing that challenge."

Five minutes later Thomas made it three with the first goal of his collegiate career. Malcolm Ward (Youngs, Australia/Newington College) played a cross field ball to Thomas who turned a Panther defender and fired a low shot inside the back post to give NIU a 3-0 lead in the 76th minute. 

Not to be outdone by his twin brother, Anthony Markanich added his fourth goal of the season in the 83rd minute, scoring in his fourth consecutive game. Off a throw-in, Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) flicked the ball back into the run of Anthony Markanich who made no mistake from just inside the top of the 18-yard box to put the icing on the cake for the Huskies. 

Sanchez was credited with two saves in goal for NIU while earning his third clean sheet in the last four games; Van Schouten made three stops for Milwaukee. 

"They have been unbelievable," Swan said of NIU's back four and goalkeeper. "When you look at each of them, they have been great physically, their building out has been exceptional, they are at the start of a lot of our attacking play. They are taking a lot of pride in not conceding goals, you could see that at the end (of the game) from Martin (Sanchez), from the defenders, from the guys on the bench, there is a real sense of pride from the team when we don't concede and when we don't give up chances."

NIU nearly opened the scoring in the sixth minute as Anthony Markanich climbed highest to get a head on Adrian Corona's (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) corner kick, but the header came back off the crossbar before it was cleared away by the Milwaukee defense. 

In the 21st minute, the Huskies appeared to have a penalty as Thomas was brought down from behind, but the referee judged the foul to have come just outside the box. From the ensuing free kick, Banuelos blasted a shot off the Milwaukee wall.

The Huskies controlled possession for most of the opening 45 minutes but neither team could find a breakthrough until Maynez's goal three minutes after the break opened the floodgates. 

NIU will return home on Saturday, Sept. 18, when the Huskies host Western Illinois. Kickoff against the Leathernecks is slated for 5 p.m.