KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team pushed 16th-ranked Western Michigan for 110 minutes before falling to the Broncos, 3-1, on Wednesday afternoon (Nov. 8) in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Semifinals. Zachariah Thomas (Burnaby, British Columbia/Moscrop Secondary) opened the scoring in the 63rd minute and Jakub Rojek (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) made nine saves in goal, but the Broncos evened the game with less than nine minutes left in regulation before winning it in extra time. 

"I was really proud of the guys," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "We faced a lot of shots and a lot of pressure today, but we carved out a couple of chances in the first half. We got in a really good situation in the second half, and it was a fantastic goal, Braeden's (Beard) pass and Zach's (Thomas) finish were top quality. 

"It is just disappointing, as good as Western (Michigan) are, I would have liked us to exert a little more control of the game at some point. When you give good teams the ball over-and-over again and allow them to come and attack, it is always going to be difficult."

NIU (7-9-1) went in front in the 63rd minute as Thomas scored his first goal of the season. The Huskies had the ball down the left wing and Braeden Beard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe Northwest) played a low cross inside the box to Thomas who was all alone inside the six-yard box. Thomas slipped a shot past Western Michigan goalkeeper Ethan Brandt to put the Huskies in front, 1-0. 

Six minutes later, Rojek made a good save down low to his left on a shot from Charlie Sharp.

Western Michigan (14-1-3) leveled the contest in the 82nd minute as Sharp evened the contest. Tom Cooklin's corner found Sharp at the back post who rose above the crowd and headed past Rojek from close range to tie the game at 1-1. 

The last chance inside the 90 minutes fell to Sharp as his header from close range was stopped by Rojek as the contest went to extra time. 

NIU earned a corner midway through the first half of extra time and a chance came for Camilo Estrada (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star) that sailed just high over the Western Michigan goal. 

Western Michigan went in front in the 99th minute as a low cross from Noah James came all the way through the box to Jonathan Robinson who finished at the far post to give the Broncos a 2-1 advantage. 

Three minutes into the second extra time period, Sharp added his second goal of the game, and his 13th of the season. Western Michigan's long throw found Dylan Sing, he chested it to Sharp who made a quick turn and shot from the top of the six-yard box past Rojek to give Western Michigan a two-goal lead as the Broncos advanced to Saturday's tournament final.

Rojek was called upon early as Sharp beat an offside trap and was one-on-one with the NIU goalkeeper in the third minute, but Rojek came up with the stop to keep the contest level in the opening moments. 

NIU's first opportunity of the contest came in the 13th minute as Thomas found a bit of space in the box and was able to fire a low shot on target that was stopped by Brandt.

Western Michigan saw more of the ball throughout the majority of the opening 45 minutes, but the Huskies limited the chances on target for the top-seeded Broncos. 

The Huskies earned a free kick in the 33rd minute that resulted in shots from Estrada and Thomas, but both opportunities were blocked by the Western Michigan defense. 

Three minutes before the interval, Western Michigan nearly opened the scoring as a Bronco cross took a deflection inside the six-yard box and came back off the post to the left to Rojek. The NIU goalkeeper got a foot on the ball after it came off the bar as the Huskies scrambled it away to head into halftime scoreless. 

In the 58th minute, Sing had a chance for Western Michigan that curled just over the crossbar. The chance for Sharp was followed by a pair of shots from Carson Hodgson, both of which required good saves from Rojek down low to his left near the hour mark. 

Three minutes later, the Huskies went in front, only to see the Broncos make a late comeback. 

"I don't think (Jakub Rojek) deserved to be on the losing team today," said Swan. "I thought he had a lot of good saves, and I was quite happy with our overall work rate and effort today, we just lacked a little control when we really needed it."

Western Michigan advances to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Final on Saturday, Nov. 11, against second-seeded Missouri State.