Chris Paton
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Glaeser (Walla Walla, Wash./Walla Walla/Oregon State) made four saves Saturday night as the NIU men’s soccer team played to a scoreless draw against Loyola-Chicago at the Loyola Soccer Park.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “Both teams competed, I was pleased with our guys, I thought that we competed hard. Loyola came out pretty intensely and I thought that our guys did well on set pieces defensively, which had been an issue for us. On the whole it was an honest effort.
“We need to work on a bit of our aggressiveness going forward. We had some good spells on the ball but I thought that we could have been a little more cutthroat in certain moments in the attack, so that will be something we will have to address. I think that Loyola is a good team but I am happy that we had a clean sheet, on the road, and there are a lot of positives we can take from it.”
Loyola (4-3-2) earned five corner kicks in the first five minutes of the contest, but the Huskies were up to the task of defending early on. Glaeser was called upon to make a pair of saves in the 42nd minute, saving shots from both Brian Bement and Brody Kraussel.
NIU (2-4-4) created the first opportunity of the second 45 minutes as sophomore Chris Paton (Glasgow, Scotland/Uddingston Grammar School) headed high of goal in the 55th minute. The Huskies had another chance just two minutes later as senior Jayson LeSeth (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) fired a shot wide.
Loyola hit the crossbar twice in the second half as Kyle Thomson and Daniel Hare each in the bar in the 63rd minute, but the game remained scoreless.
Neither goalkeeper was called upon to make a save in the first extra session but in the second overtime period, Glaeser was called upon to make a pair of saves, denying Andrew Raymonds in the 101st minute and Brody Kraussel in the 102nd. The Huskies earned a corner in the 106th minute but were unable to break the deadlock.
NIU will return home Wednesday, Oct. 8, as the Huskies host Northwestern. Game time against the Wildcats is scheduled for 7 p.m.
For more information on NIU men’s soccer and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
