KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team outshot No. 19 Kansas City, 18-9, but fell, 2-1, to the Roos on Monday night (Sept. 1) at Durwood Soccer Stadium. Grant Paskus (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) scored his first goal of the season for the Huskies but a late first half goal for the hosts proved to be the difference. 

"I was very happy with how we played for the majority of the game," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "I thought, especially in the first half, we were excellent, created a lot of good opportunities and took care of the ball pretty well. But we made two big mistakes in there and we've been punished on those. In the second half, (Kansas City) did a good job of killing the clock and making it difficult for us. 

"Kansas City are nationally ranked and against teams that are doing well, when you make mistakes you'll be punished, and we didn't quite finish our chances in the way we would have liked."

Joe Hernandez (Bensenville, Ill./York Community) had the first chance for either team as he fired a shot from just outside the box that took a slight deflection and went just wide of the post in the fifth minute. 
    
Two minutes later, Kansas City went in front as Roo forward Jeremy Francou beat NIU goalkeeper Atahan Arslan (Ismir, Turkiye) to a long ball from out of the back and tapped into an open net to give the hosts an early lead. 

Paskus pulled the Huskies level in the 19th minute as Katai Mukuka (Lusaka, Zambia) collected the ball on the right wing and sent a low cross to Paskus in the box. The Huskie sophomore took one touch before sweeping a shot past Kansas City goalkeeper Marc Popow inside the far post to tie the contest at 1-1.  

Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) nearly got a second for the Huskies just four minutes later as the ball ping-ponged to the NIU freshman on the edge of the six-yard box and his volley went just wide.

Sheffield and Mukuka combined in the 26th minute as Sheffield played the ball in behind the Kansas City defense and Mukuka had the ball in the net, but the assistant referee's flag was up for offside. 

Kansas City (2-0-2) regained the lead in the 44th on Francou's second goal of the night. Francou collected the ball just outside the box and fired a low shot that snuck inside the post to give the Roos a 2-1 lead just a minute before the interval. 

NIU (2-1-1) held a 12-3 lead in shots in the opening 45 minutes, but the hosts took a one-goal lead into the second half. 

Just past the hour mark, the Huskies had a chance as Mukuka latched onto the ball in midfield and had a one-v-one chance with Popow but Mukuka took his shot early and the low effort was comfortably claimed by the Kansas City goalkeeper. 

In the 71st minute, Amara Kamara (Monrovia, Liberia) had a great chance from a corner as Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras) whipped a dangerous ball into the near post and Kamara rose highest to win it, but couldn't direct his header on goal as it went just over the crossbar. 

Kansas City had its first attempt on target in the second half in the 78th minute as Shotaro Kodama's shot from about eight yards was stopped by Arslan. Four minutes later off a Kansas City corner, Mariano Beunza found himself with space at the back post and his header from close range required a terrific save from Arslan. 

NIU pushed for an equalizer in the waning moments as Dasha Curiel (Rockford, Ill./Rockford East) collected the ball on the edge of the box in the 84th minute, turned and fired a low shot that was saved by Popow as the hosts hung on for the victory. 

The Huskies will return to action next Tuesday, Sept. 9, when they travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to face IU Indy. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.