GREEN BAY, Wis. – Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) scored in the 85th minute to help lift the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Horizon League preseason favorite Green Bay on Monday night (Aug. 25) at Aldo Santaga Stadium.

Roman Khela (Huddersfield, England) and Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras) picked up assists on Sheffield's goal while Atahan Arslan (Ismir, Turkiye) recorded his first shutout of the season in goal for the Huskies.

"Obviously delighted to get the first win of the season," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought we were good today and well worthy of the win. There were some improvements from Thursday's game at Milwaukee, which we were happy to see. We were the more dangerous team and created some good opportunities. This year there is a little more belief in the final third (of the field) so even as things were ticking toward the end at 0-0 there was still a belief that we would go find something and, in the end, it was a fantastic finish from Vance (Sheffield) to win it."

Green Bay (0-1) had the first attempt at goal for either team in the seventh minute as Luke Nicholson fired high over the bar. 

The first attempt at goal for the Huskies came just after the quarter-hour mark as Grant Paskus (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) fired a shot high from outside the box.

Paskus forced the first save by either goalkeeper in the 26th minute with a shot that was stopped by Green Bay goalkeeper Philip Oesterbaek. Two minutes later, NIU nearly opened the scoring as Gomez fired a shot off the post. 

Late in the first half, Katai Mukuka (Lusaka, Zambia) had a chance that was stopped by Oesterbaek as the game went into the interval scoreless. 

NIU (1-0-1) was on the front foot right away to start the second half as Joe Hernandez (Bensenville, Ill./York Community) tested Oesterbaek less than four minutes after the intermission.

Arslan was called into action for the first time in goal for the Huskies in the 53rd minute as he turned aside a chance by Noah Lechelt.

Green Bay's best chance of the game came 10 minutes before full time as a chance from Kazuki Okazaki was cleared off the line by the NIU defense. 

Five minutes later, Sheffield found the winner as Gomez whipped in a cross and the Huskie freshman powered a header down inside the post that Oesterbaek could only get a fingertip to as NIU scored the game's only goal. 

"We have been pleasantly surprised with a number of our freshmen but Vance (Sheffield) is one of those where we knew there was a lot of potential there," Swan said of Sheffield. "We just wondered how long it would take for him to settle into our style of play and into the speed of the game. 

"He came in really fit, his mentality is fantastic and one of the best things about Vance is he's always got good questions, he wants to know what he can be doing. He'll come and speak to us during the course of the game or halftime to make sure he knows exactly what his roles and responsibilities are, so we've been delighted with him."

With the win, NIU handed Green Bay its first home loss since Sept. 30, 2023, snapping a 12-game home unbeaten streak for the Phoenix.

NIU will return to action on Thursday, Aug. 28, when the Huskies host Western Illinois in their regular season home opener. Kickoff against the Leathernecks is slated for 5 p.m.