CHICAGO, Ill. – Goals from Tomasz Slawek (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) and Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras) helped the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team move into a three-way tie for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 2-1 victory over UIC on Saturday night (Oct. 25) at Flames Field. 

The Huskie goals came early in each half before the Flames scored with just two minutes to play to spoil the NIU shutout. The win snaps a four-game losing streak against UIC as the Huskies topped the Flames for the first time since Sept. 18, 2018. NIU also moved to unbeaten in its last seven matches with Saturday night's victory. 

"It was a tremendous performance from us tonight," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "The scoreline is very close but we really should have scored five tonight. We had a penalty kick, a couple of 1-on-1's where the goalkeeper made good stops, but I thought we were really good and well deserving of the victory.

"Absolutely delighted, tied at the top of the table and everything to play for in the last couple of games."

It took NIU just seven minutes to go in front as Slawek scored his first career goal against his former team. Martin Montoya's (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) corner was half-cleared to Niko Angulo (Dallas, Texas/Allegiance Academy), who headed it toward Gomez. The senior midfielder deflected the ball into the path of Slawek and the center back curled a shot through traffic past UIC goalkeeper Owen Cornell to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the early going. 

"I was so excited for him," Swan said of Slawek scoring against his former side. "We talked pregame, I talked about how well he played against Notre Dame … I was trying to make sure he stayed focused on not trying to do more today, just put in a performance and continue the work you did on Tuesday. I said it wouldn't be bad if you did it in the other box, I was expected him maybe to get on the end of a header, but to show that composure and technique to smash the ball in, I was delighted for him." 

Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) nearly doubled the NIU lead in the 12th minute as the Huskies split the UIC center backs with a pass into the NIU forward but Cornell got a hand on Sheffield's shot to make the save. 

In the 22nd minute, Angulo created another opportunity for the Huskies as he forced a turnover in midfield and dribbled to the edge of the box before firing a low shot that went just wide of the far post. 

A counterattack led to another excellent opportunity for NIU in the 33rd minute as the Huskies forced a turnover from the Flames and Sheffield slid the ball into the run of Katai Mukuka (Lusaka, Zambia) whose low shot was parried away by Cornell to keep the Huskie lead at just one heading into the interval.

NIU (7-3-4, 2-0-3 MVC) goalkeeper Caleb Pearson (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell) was called upon to make a comfortable save in the 52nd minute and the Huskies immediately went the other way to double the lead. 

Mukuka played the ball from the right side into Gomez who settled the ball and whistled a shot from 20 yards into the upper corner, past an outstretched Cornell to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage. 

In the 58th minute, a good one-two from UIC opened some space for a shot from Nys just inside the box that was pushed away by Pearson and the Huskie defense was able to clear it out of the box. Six minutes later, UIC had a good look at goal as Alan Alonso's shot from just inside the box tailed away from the corner of the net and out for a Huskie goal kick. 

Mukuka had a great chance to get a third for NIU in the 71st minute as a low cross from Roman Khela (Huddersfield, England) toward the penalty spot found Mukuka but his shot was stopped by Cornell. 

Four minutes later, Montoya earned the Huskies a penalty as he was kicked just inside the box. Sheffield stepped up to take the penalty for NIU but Cornell made another good save to keep the Flames within touching distance.  

Pearson made a terrific stop in the 79th minute as a header from near the end line off a UIC cross found Adrian Biaggi. His shot from close range forced an outstanding reaction stop from the NIU goalkeeper. 

UIC (8-2-4, 1-1-3 MVC) continued to pour numbers forward and finally scored in the 88th minute off a corner as Hector Gil's header from inside the six-yard box off a corner from Sota Nakazono gave the hosts a consolation goal. 

Pearson was credited with eight saves in the contest for the Huskies, Cornell made five stops for UIC. 

"We were very confident when Caleb (Pearson) went in (Tuesday against Notre Dame) that he would get the job done and as we came here tonight, there was no concerns from the coaching staff or from the team," said Swan. "Caleb has a great mentality towards training and doing things right for the team and I thought he had an outstanding performance."

NIU will be back in action next Friday, Oct. 31, when the Huskies travel to Evansville for a matchup of two of the three teams tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. Kickoff against the Purple Aces is slated for 6 p.m.