The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team ended Western Michigan's national-best 10-game win streak on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 9) as the Huskies and Broncos played to a scoreless draw at the NIU Soccer Complex. Huskie goalkeeper Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) made six saves in the contest as he earned his third shutout of the season.
"The guy did well defensively," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "We played (Western Michigan) a couple of weeks ago and they were just physically better than us. They seemed to want it more and were more aggressive (than us). We took some really positive steps today; we were solid defensively and I was disappointed that we didn't get more looks on goal. We got into some good positions but didn't have the quality in the final third to test their goalkeeper."
NIU (4-4-4, 1-2-1 MAC) had the first sight of goal in the third minute as Enrique Banuelos (Mexico City, Mexico/Virginia) tried his luck on a free kick from just over 30 yards, but his attempt went well wide.
Sanchez was called into action for the first time on the quarter-hour mark as Western Michigan knocked a ball down to Tanner Hodgson for a shot from near the top of the box and Sanchez fought the chance off with his hands.
In the 28th minute, the Broncos earned a free kick just outside the NIU box and Daniel Nimick's shot direct from the free kick was palmed away at full stretch by Sanchez.
Eight minutes later the Huskies had a chance as Malcolm Ward (Youngs, Australia/Newington College) played the ball into Zachariah Thomas (Burnaby, British Columbia/Moscrop Secondary) inside the box. Thomas flicked the ball over to Patrick Coleman (Antioch, Ill./Notre Dame) who fired a shot high as the Huskies and Broncos went to the interval deadlocked.
Five minutes after halftime NIU was denied what looked to be a clear penalty kick. Coleman raced down the left wing on the counter and whipped a dangerous ball into the penalty area toward Banuelos. The ball was blocked by the hand of a Bronco defender, but the referee waved play on.
Western Michigan (9-1-1, 3-0-1 MAC) had a chance on goal off a corner in the 66th minute as the second ball fell to Eric Conerty just outside the top of the 18 and his volley attempt was comfortably held by Sanchez.
Two minutes later, the Broncos had their best opportunity of the afternoon. Sanchez came off his line to punch a free kick from near midfield, but his punch fell straight to the feet of a Bronco. With Sanchez well off his line, the ball was played to Charlie Sharp just on the edge of the six-yard box and Sharp's shot was cleared off the goal line by Adrian Lara (Shorewood, Ill./Joliet Township).
Sanchez's final save of the contest came with a quarter-hour to play from a free kick just wide of the corner of the box as Nimick tried to beat the Huskie goalkeeper at the near post, but Sanchez easily punched the shot away.
In the 84th minute, Angel Rodriguez (Elgin, Ill./Ignite Christian Academy) had one final opportunity for the Huskies as Miguel Maynez Jr. (El Paso, Texas/New Mexico) played the ball across the top of the box to Rodriguez only to see his curling effort go just wide of the far post.
"Starting a five-game homestand, we knew this was going to be a really tough one," said Swan. "Western Michigan have been fantastic this year, so to take a point from them is not a bad result. I am a little disappointed that we didn't show more quality in the final third to maybe find a winner because I thought we got in a couple really good spots late on in the game."
NIU will be at home again on Wednesday night, Oct. 12, when the Huskies host Northwestern. Kickoff between the Huskies and Wildcats is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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