DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team earned a share of the Missouri Valley Conference championship with a 4-0 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday night (Nov. 5) in the regular season finale at the NIU Soccer Complex.
NIU (8-4-4, 3-1-3 MVC) scored twice in the opening 10 minutes as
Roman Khela (Huddersfield, England) scored in the sixth minute, and
Martin Montoya (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) doubled the lead in the 10th minute as the Huskies cruised to the win.
In the second half,
Niko Angulo (Dallas, Texas/Allegiance Academy) scored NIU's third in the 50th minute and Montoya netted his second goal of the game, and fifth of the season, in the 77th minute.
"Delighted with the performance and to end the season as co-champions is fantastic," said NIU head coach
Ryan Swan. "The guys were feeling down last week (following a loss at Evansville), you never know exactly how they are going to respond but it was excellent today and I'm delighted for everyone to get the result and a share of the trophy."
The Huskies, who share the conference regular season title with Evansville and Drake, will be seeded third in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and will host Western Michigan on Sunday, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. in the tournament quarterfinals.
Khela's first collegiate goal gave NIU the lead just six minutes into the contest.
Grant Paskus (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) won the ball in midfield and quickly played it forward toward
Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) who took the ball into the attacking third before leaving it for Khela on the overlapping run. Khela cut inside onto his left and slotted a shot under Bowling Green goalkeeper Jason Ball to put the Huskies on top early.
"We knew with (Bowling Green) still fighting for a place in the conference (tournament), they would come out fired up and make it really competitive," said Swan. "One of our focal points was we had to match their intensity early on. When Roman got in and scored the first goal, I think it took the nerves off a bit, the guys were confident, and we were creating more chances. It was fantastic to get off to such a good start."
Four minutes later, Montoya doubled the lead for the home team with his fourth goal of the year. A quick ball into midfield and a long switch to Angulo sliced open the Bowling Green defense. Angulo dribbled just inside the box before sending a low cross toward Sheffield who nodded the ball along into the run of Montoya. The Hinsdale, Ill., native smashed a left-footed shot past Ball to put the Huskies up by two.
In the 23rd minute,
Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras) nearly added a third as his curling effort from 20 yards went just wide.
Bowling Green's (5-8-4, 1-4-2 MVC) best chance of the half came in the 39th minute as Trace Terry flicked a shot toward the far post where it was cleared off the line by Khela as NIU took a 2-0 lead into the interval.
NIU added a third goal five minutes into the second half. Angulo picked the ball up in the center circle just inside the Huskie half and went on a 40-plus yard run as no Falcon closed him down until he reached the top of the 18-yard box where he fired a shot past a diving Ball to give NIU a 3-0 advantage.
The Huskies continued to be on the front-foot throughout the second half. A little past the hour mark, Gomez whistled a shot just over the crossbar from about 25 yards.
Montoya added the exclamation point with his second goal of the night in the 77th minute. Montoya played the ball into Sheffield who spun and found Montoya running into the box, getting in behind the Bowling Green defense before firing past Ball from 15 yards to close the scoring.
Sheffield becomes the first Huskie to record three assists in a game since Alex D'Orsi had three on Nov. 5, 1999, in a 4-2 conference tournament victory over Bowling Green.
The share of the Missouri Valley Conference title gives NIU its second league crown in the last five seasons. The Huskies were the Mid-American Conference champions in 2021 under Swan.
