SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Matthew Roou scored the only goal of the game in the 14th minute to give Notre Dame a 1-0 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Friday night (Sept. 1) at Alumni Stadium. Jakub Rojek (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) made 10 saves in goal for the Huskies. 

"We lost the game, so there is the disappointment that comes with that, and we have to give respect to Notre Dame, they have a fantastic team and I suspect that they will have a fantastic season," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "With that said, there were moments in the game where we could have gotten a goal, it is disappointing not to have scored. We got into some good positions, we hit the post and made some dangerous runs. 

"I haven't been overly happy with our performances against Western (Illinois) or Memphis, but we saw big improvements today. We have to take the positives from this one and hopefully make things right on Monday."

Just before the quarter-hour mark, Notre Dame opened the scoring as a tangle in the NIU box led to a turnover with Paddy Burns collecting the ball for Notre Dame, clipping a cross to Roou who headed past Rojek from close range to give the Fighting Irish the lead.  

In the 21st minute, miscommunication on the Huskie backline led to a chance for Notre Dame's Eno Nto, but his chance came off the post. 

Rojek made an excellent save from close range on a shot by Nto in the 31st minute and the rebound was fired high by the Fighting Irish as the home side's lead remained 1-0 heading into the interval. 

NIU began to grow more into the game in the second 45 minutes as Kevin Kelly (Dublin, Ireland/St. Joseph Rush) had a chance blocked in the 55th minute. 

In the 67th minute, Nto found a little bit of space inside the box for a shot, but Rojek got down to his right to make the save. 

A minute later, Sam Divis (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) sprung Zachariah Thomas (Burnaby, British Columbia/Moscrop Secondary) into the Notre Dame penalty area for a Huskie chance as Thomas whistled a shot high of Notre Dame goalkeeper Bryan Dowd. The Huskies had another opportunity in the 70th minute as the ball fell to Camilo Estrada (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star) just outside the top of the box and the senior midfielder's half-volley rose just over the crossbar. 

NIU had its best chance of the night in the 87th minute as Amo Mashigo (Pretoria, South Africa/South Kent) got his head on the end of a corner from Angel Rodriguez (Elgin, Ill./Ignite Christian Academy). Mashigo's header cannoned back off the post to the right of Dowd before it was scrambled away by the Fighting Irish defense for another Huskie corner. 

In the 89th minute, Notre Dame played a one-two to the top of the six-yard box for Nto who was all alone in front of goal, but Rojek made a spectacular save, tipping the ball over the crossbar to keep the Huskies close. 

"He was brilliant today," Swan said of Rojek. "I don't think there is anything he could do about the goal. We will be a little disappointed in the defending that led to that, but it was (Rojek) that kept us in a position to find a result in this game. He had four or five really outstanding saves."

NIU will be back in action on Monday night, Sept. 4, as the Huskies host Aurora at the NIU Soccer Complex. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and admission is free.