DEKALB, Ill. – Katai Mukuka (Lusaka, Zambia) had a goal and an assist as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team claimed a 3-0 victory over Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 3) at the NIU Soccer Complex.
Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) opened the scoring in the first half with his fourth goal of the year before Mukuka grabbed his third of the season in the second half and
Tomasz Slawek (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) added his second to finish the scoring.
"To get the win and take three points home was obviously the number one objective but I was really delighted with the overall performance," said NIU head coach
Ryan Swan. "I thought we scored good goals, our defensive work was good, we limited (Northern Kentucky) to only a couple of chances. There is room for improvement but, overall, very happy with today."
The first chance of the contest fell to
Niko Ladas (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) near the quarter-hour mark as his off-balance effort inside the box forced a save from Northern Kentucky goalkeeper
Caleb Pearson.
NIU (6-3-1, 3-1-1 Horizon) should have been in front in the 22nd minute off a corner as
Luka Vasic (Toronto, Ontario/Maple) flashed a header inches wide from the edge of the six-yard box.
Northern Kentucky had a chance to open the scoring in the 35th minute as Carlos Merce found his way around a Huskie defender near the six-yard box and forced a good save from Huskie goalkeeper
Cayden Crawford (Plain City, Ohio/Ohio Connections Academy).
Crawford picked up his third shutout of the season in the victory.
Three minutes later,
Osagie Omoregie (London, England) nearly put NIU in front as his header from a corner was scrambled off the goal line by a Norse defender.
The Huskies finally did go in front three minutes before the interval as Mukuka beat a Northern Kentucky defender down the right wing and slip a low cross toward the penalty spot where Sheffield has space to sweep a shot past Pearson to put the Huskies in front heading into halftime.
Northern Kentucky (1-8-1, 1-3-0 Horizon) had a good spell just over the hour mark as they earned a quartet of corners in quick succession, but it was NIU that countered that final of those corners and doubled its advantage in the 69th minute.
A blocked shot led to
Niko Angulo (Dallas, Texas/Allegiance Academy) racing into the attacking third before squaring a pass to Mukuka just outside the 18-yard box. The Zambian attacker was all alone with time to settle the pass and slot a right-footed shot into the corner of the net to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
NIU made it three seven minutes later from a free kick as Romah Khela (Huddersfield, England) whipped a ball into an area just outside the six-yard box where Slawek was able to rise the highest and head home to close range to put the contest out of reach.
The assist was the sixth of the season for Khela, which is the most by a Huskie defender in a season since current member of Minnesota United Anthony Markanich recorded nine during the 2021 campaign.
NIU will be at home again on Wednesday, Oct. 7, as it hosts Detroit Mercy. Kickoff against the Titans is slated for 3 p.m.
