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Bulldogs break men's soccer's unbeaten home streak
Anyone who attended the NIU men’s soccer game against Butler Sunday witnessed something that hasn’t happened in almost two years – a Huskie home loss.
Dustin Mares scored the game-winner for the Bulldogs in double overtime to beat NIU 2-1 Sunday in the NIU Adidas/Baymont Inn Invitational.
The loss comes after the Huskies came from two goals down to tie University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2-2, on Friday, leaving NIU with a record of 0-1-1 for the weekend.
“I thought we had a good match. I thought the performance was good,” NIU coach Steve Simmons said after the tough Butler loss. “But we really let them off the hook. We deserved a win out of this, but we didn’t get it. So we’ve got to bounce back, and we’ll see what we’re made of.”
The Huskies (1-2-3) scored the first goal of the match in the 31st minute. Chris Johnson scored his first goal as a Huskie on a header off an assist from Kyle Knotek.
“I was running into the box and kinda anticipating the cross,” Johnson said. “I knew he was going to play it in so I could get a head on it.”
The Bulldogs tied the game in the second half on a free kick from about 25 yards out by Boris Gatzky that found the top right corner of the net.
Despite back-to-back games giving up two goals – something the Huskies haven’t done in a year – Simmons says he is pleased with the play of his defense.
“We’ll tighten up. Our defense is fine,” he said. “Through the frustration, we’ve got to work our way through it. We‘re gonna see what these guys are about.”
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