Three goals in just over three minutes in the first half led Western Michigan to a 3-0 victory over the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team on Friday afternoon (Sept. 23) in the Mid-American Conference opener for both schools. Eric Conerty, Daniel Nimick and Mike Melaragni were on the scoresheet for the Broncos in the victory.
"We knew Western Michigan was a good team, we knew it would be a tough contest, but I thought we weathered the first bit of the storm," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "The first 10 minutes they came out fired up, as we expected, and we seemed to settle in. We had a couple of decent looks at goal, didn't quite get there, but after we conceded the goal, we took a hit mentally.
"It was a really good strike for the first goal, but we didn't do a good job of stepping up, then the next two were really poor from us defensively. It just wasn't a good day for us."
The Huskie defense was called into action early on as Western Michigan (6-1-0, 1-0-0 MAC) worked the ball across the field from left-to-right in the ninth minute before fining Dylan Sing all alone in the box. Sing's chance was cleared off the line by NIU defense.
Just before the quarter-hour mark, NIU earned a pair of corners and, from the second corner, Camilo Estrada (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star) had a shot on the volley from the top of the box that was deflected out for a third Huskie corner. Western Michigan would clear their lines from the third opportunity.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 21st minute as Conerty hit a shot from distance that skipped off the turf, off the post and into the net to give Western Michigan a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes later, Western Michigan added a second as Nimick rose above the crowd at the top of the six-yard box and headed home Conerty's corner to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. Just 36 seconds later, the Broncos added a third as a low cross from the right side from Charlie Sharp found the near post run of Melaragni who finished from close range.
Late in the half, Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) made an outstanding save off a set piece. Sharp made a run into space off a free kick and the Broncos played him the ball all alone. Sharp's shot from inside 10 yards was beaten away by Sanchez as the hosts took a 3-0 lead into halftime.
NIU (3-3-2, 0-1-0 MAC) had the first chance after the interval as an excellent cross from the left side found the head of Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) who flicked it just wide 10 minutes after the break.
The Huskies nearly ended the Western Michigan shutout two minutes from time as Banuelos held the ball up and played in Estrada whose shot looked destined for the low corner, but Western Michigan goalkeeper Hunter Morse got a hand to it to force a corner and preserve the clean sheet for the Broncos.
Morse finished with four saves for the Broncos, Sanchez made three stops for the Huskies.
NIU will step back out of conference on Wednesday, Sept. 28, as the Huskies travel to Madison, Wis., to meet Wisconsin. Kickoff against the Badgers is set for 7 p.m.
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