TULSA, Okla. – Jared Aguilar converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute to give Tulsa a 1-0 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Saturday night (Oct. 17) at the Hurricane Soccer Stadium.
"We had some good moments, we hit the crossbar, we had one cleared off the line, but to be fair,
Cayden Crawford came up huge for us, making a number of pretty incredible saves," said NIU head coach
Ryan Swan. "Tulsa created a lot of good chances, I think I would have been content had it ended in a tie, but we have been punished for our mistakes. We had a couple of costly moments and, against a quality team, they are going to get punished."
Cayden Crawford (Plain City, Ohio/Ohio Connections Academy) was called into action for the first time in the fourth minute on a deflected shot from Aguilar that nearly wrong-footed the Huskie goalkeeper, but he was able to recover and deflect the ball away for a Tulsa corner.
In the 10th minute,
Niko Angulo (Dallas, Texas/Allegiance Academy) cut in on his right and left the ball in the path of
Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) who fired just wide of the post from near the top of the box.
Just after the hour mark, Christian Mezas had a chance for Tulsa from about 16 yards. His low shot skipped off the turf before Crawford tipped it onto the post to his left and the Huskies were able to clear it away.
Four minutes before halftime, Peleg Armendariz fired a shot from the top of the 18 that was tipped over the bar by Crawford as the Huskies and Golden Hurricane went into the interval scoreless.
NIU (7-4-2) should have opened the scoring less than three minutes into the second half. From a corner by
Roman Khela (Huddersfield, England), the first header from
Luka Vasic (Toronto, Ontario/Maple) came back off the crossbar and to
Tomasz Slawek (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) on the edge of the six-yard box, his header was cleared off the line by a Tulsa defender. The ball then pinballed around in the box before it was finally cleared by the Golden Hurricane.
Jaziel Alonso (Grayslake, Ill./Grayslake Central) had a chance in the 65th minute as Angulo created space for his teammate about five yards outside the box and the curling effort from Alonso was tipped away by Tulsa goalkeeper Carlito Saylon for a corner. From the ensuing corner, Sheffield had a chance as he rose highest inside the box but couldn't direct his header on target.
Just two minutes later, Tulsa (5-4-4) earned a penalty as Mezas was taken down in the box. Aguilar converted from the spot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
In the 76th minute, Luc Achermann-Stanfield forced a save from Crawford as the Golden Hurricane earned a free kick just outside of the box to the left of the NIU goalkeeper. Achermann-Stanfield fired directly on goal and Crawford was able to tip the shot over the bar.
Two minutes later, Crawford made an outstanding stop as a cross from Armendariz found Will Applegate all alone inside the box and his volley attempt was palmed away by the Huskie goalkeeper.
Crawford finished with seven saves, Saylon had three stops in goal for Tulsa.
The Huskies will return to Horizon League play next Sunday, Oct. 25, when NIU hosts Cleveland State. Kickoff against the Vikings is scheduled for 1 p.m.
