EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Nate Roberts scored the only goal in the 58th minute as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team fell to Evansville, 1-0, on Friday night (Oct. 31) at McCutchan Stadium. The loss snapped NIU's seven-match unbeaten streak as the Huskies fell for the first time since Sept. 16.

NIU (7-4-4, 2-1-3 MVC) had the first look on target in the contest as Martin Montoya (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) forced a save from Evansville goalkeeper Michal Mroz in the eighth minute.

Two minutes later, Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) had a chance for NIU that was saved by Mroz and put out for a corner. From the ensuing corner, Tomasz Slawek (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) forced another save from Mroz as the visitors piled on some pressure in the early going. 

Moments after the save on Slawek, Evansville went back the other way and Ben Zec brought NIU goalkeeper Atahan Arslan (Ismir, Turkiye) into action for the first time in the contest as the Huskie goalkeeper made his first save on a shot from distance.

Joe Hernandez (Bensenville, Ill./York Community) forced Mroz into a double save in the 25th minute and Slawek had another opportunity just before the half-hour mark as NIU continued to have more of the ball in the early stages. 

In the 40th minute, Tancredi Fadda's chance for Evansville was parried out of play for a corner by Arslan. Evansville forced one more save in the half as Pablo Calvete saw his effort stopped by Arslan in the 42nd minute to send the game to the interval scoreless. 

Early in the second half, Niko Angulo (Dallas, Texas/Allegiance Academy) had a chance as his effort from just inside the box across the face of goal was stopped by Mroz two minutes after halftime. 

Evansville (6-3-8, 3-0-3 MVC) broke the deadlock just before the hour mark as Roberts found the back of the net. Roberts tallied his first goal of the season with a shot from just outside the box to give the Purple Aces a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute.

NIU pushed for an equalizer over the final 30 minutes, but Mroz needed to make just two stops in the final half-hour. The first came on an attempt from Roman Khela (Huddersfield, England) in the 82nd minute and the second was on a chance for Tobias Crear (Carrollton, Texas/Creekview) in the 86th, but Mroz was equal to both of them as Evansville moved into sole possession of first-place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. 

The Huskies had 20 shots in the contest, 10 of which were saved by Mroz, Evansville registered nine shots and Arslan made three stops for the visitors. 

NIU heads into the final day of the regular season in a three-way tie for second in the conference with Drake and Western Michigan on nine points, three points behind Evansville. The Huskies will host Bowling Green on Wednesday, Nov. 5, kickoff against the Falcons is slated for 6 p.m. and admission is free of charge.