DEKALB, Ill. – Taylor Davis (Wichita Falls, Texas/Wichita Falls) scored the lone goal just 26 seconds into the contest as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team topped Mercyhurst, 1-0, on Monday afternoon (Sept. 16) at the NIU Soccer Complex. 

NIU (2-5-0) collected its first clean sheet of the season as Atahan Arslan (Ismir, Turkiye) made a pair of saves to help the Huskies snap Mercyhurst's (3-4-0) three-match win streak. 

"We wanted to start fast," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought the goal was fantastic, to get it so early, but then we conceded control of the game after that. There were certainly lots of positives, but there are certainly lots of things for us to still work on.

"When Mercyhurst grabbed control of the game, I was a little bit disappointed that we weren't able to show more composure when we had the ball. It became very direct, and we didn't really get the ball under control and, as a result, we didn't have many opportunities. Just we talked about it, it is great that we were able to grind out the result, but now we have to find a way to have composure on the ball and confidence on the ball. I think if we do that, it will create more chances in the final third."

The Huskies were in front before the Lakers had a kick of the ball as Davis netted his second goal of the season, and the fifth of his collegiate career. A nine-pass sequence from the kickoff culminated in Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras/Clarke University) skipping past two defenders down the right wing and firing a low cross through the six-yard box with Davis waiting at the back post for a tap-in from close range less than 30 seconds after kickoff.

Davis' goal would prove to be the only shot on target for either side in the opening 45 minutes. 

The best look at goal for Mercyhurst in the first half came through Dylan Sumner in the 33rd minute as he streaked into the box to get on the end of a cross from the right, but he couldn't keep his effort on target as the shot went harmlessly high.

After the interval, the chances for both sides remained few and far between as the warm conditions helped slow the pace of the game down. 

The Huskies made a triple change in the 65th minute that sparked the game to life a bit and, eight minutes later, one of those subs, Braeden Beard (Olathe, Kan./Olathe Northwest), nearly doubled the advantage for NIU. 

Beard took up a position at the near post off a corner and flicked on a header that hit the far post before Mercyhurst was able to scramble away the rebound. 

"The guys put in a big shift Friday at Bowling Green and we knew we would need to rely on more of the squad today," said Swan. "I thought Braeden Beard had a lot of energy and was causing problems. Willy (Mugisha) and Martin (Montoya) both came on and got pressure higher up the field, which certainly helped out."

Arslan was called upon to make his first save of the night in the 85th minute as he palmed away a shot from Alvar Silva. Three minutes later, Arslan made another stop on a back post header from Sumner. The Huskie goalkeeper dove down to his left to make the save before the NIU backline was able to clear the ball from danger to preserve the 1-0 victory. 

"We are really happy with our team; we think we have a good group of guys," said Swan. "I think there are still some things that we are learning to do as a team, but you can't fault the work rate at all today, I thought the guys did really well. Even at the end, Jaephil (Seo) was on a breakaway and maybe a more immature player gets his head down and heads straight to goal, but he was smart enough to recognize the game was almost over and that if we could protect (the ball) we could see out the result."

NIU returns to action on Friday, Sept. 20, as the Huskies travel to Macomb, Ill., to take on Western Illinois. Kickoff against the Leathernecks is scheduled for 5 p.m.