MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Leading 1-0 at halftime, the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team conceded twice in the second 45 minutes, falling to Robert Morris, 2-1, on Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 3) at the North Athletic Complex in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
"Really disappointed," said NIU head coach
Ryan Swan. "We were in a great spot, 1-0 up at halftime and just had a really poor second half. We didn't bring the necessary quality, or energy, in the second half and when you do that you are going to get punished against good teams. Robert Morris came up (in the second half) and wanted it more than we did."
Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) had an excellent opportunity to open the scoring in the fifth minute as he was put through in behind the Robert Morris defense but was unable to get a shot away as a Colonial defender scrambled back to make a tackle.
Niko Ladas (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) has the first chance on target for either side in the 23rd minute as his effort from distance was spilled by Robert Morris goalkeeper Josh Lane before he jumped on the rebound prior to a Huskie getting to it.
The Huskies went in front in the 38th minute as a shot from
Osagie Omoregie (London, England) took an unusual bounce off the pitch in front of Lane, wrong-footing the Colonial goalkeeper as it skipped into the back of the net to give NIU a 1-0 lead.
Robert Morris (7-4-6, 4-1-5 Horizon) leveled the match in the 58th minute as a deep cross from Nicholas Samways found Riley Cotton at the back post. Cotton headed the ball back in front of goal where John Krug's header beat NIU goalkeeper
Cayden Crawford (Plain City, Ohio/Ohio Connections Academy) to tie the contest, 1-1.
The Colonials nearly went in front three minutes later as a header from Samways was tipped over the bar by Crawford.
Robert Morris continued to be on the front foot as Crawford made another save on a shot from just outside the box by Giovanni Dennis in the 66th minute. Two minutes later, Sheffield had the first chance of the second half for NIU (8-6-2, 5-3-2) as he found himself with space near the top of the box and his low shot was saved by Lane down low to his left.
The hosts were back on the front-foot following the chance for Sheffield and nearly took the lead in the 85th minute as Anelson Azard fired a shot off the crossbar. Two minutes later, Azard scored the winner as the Colonials cleared a Huskie free kick and Cotton played the ball into the run of Azard who broke free behind the NIU defense before tucking the ball into the net off the post to complete the comeback for Robert Morris.
"We'll take tomorrow off, watch this back and find out who wants to play in the playoffs," said Swan of moving forward. "We are hosting a game this weekend and we'll find out which guys are up for it and which guys are not. The season is still there for us, there is still lots we can achieve, but its hard to think about that just now because everyone is very disappointed."
Information on the Horizon League Tournament will be confirmed soon by the league office.
