Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The NKU men's soccer team fell to the Western Michigan Broncos, 2-1, in overtime in the first game of the 50 Years of Soccer tournament hosted by Eastern Illinois University. The Norse rallied late in the game to force overtime, but they were unable to get the result and fell to 1-2-1 overall.
 
The Broncos opened up the offense in the first half with a shot in the fourth minute from Ryan LeMasters. Norse goalkeeper A.J. Fleak was able to stretch out and save the attempt to keep the game scoreless.
 
LeMasters would get the better of Fleak during his next run in on goal in the 15th minute. His first attempt was saved by Fleak, but Fleak was unable to keep his rebound out of goal and the Broncos took the 1-0 lead.
 
The Norse went on the attack shortly after conceding as Gavin Colton sent the ball goal-ward, but they were unable to beat Western Michigan goalkeeper Chase Rau. The Norse would continue adding offensive pressure in the 25th minute as a couple of consecutive corner kicks led to opportunities on goal. Nicholas Chiarot sent a ball in from a set piece that was blocked and moments later Austin Pierce sent a shot wide of the target.
 
The Norse would get more chances on goal before the halftime whistle from Chiarot and Brendan Murphy but they were unable to get on the score sheet. NKU trailed 1-0 at the half making it the third time the Norse have trailed after the first half of play.
 
"It was the same old story that it has been all season," said head coach John Basalyga. "We weren't focused in the beginning of the game and we had to play catch up. We had some good chances in the first half but we didn't finish."
 
The Norse opened the second half under more pressure from Western Michigan. The Broncos maintained a majority of the possession early on and they earned a couple corner kicks that the Norse defenders were able to clear away. As the Norse looked to crank up the pressure on the Broncos, Yaw Addai was shown a yellow card in the 65th minute.
 
As the second half continued, the Broncos remained in full control. Another couple of corner kicks resulted in two shot attempts that were both sent wide. The Norse defenders were being put to work as a quarter hour remained on the clock.
 
In the first offensive chance NKU had in the second half, Brendan Murphy found Caleb Eastham with a pass in the box. Eastham put the ball past the keeper for his second goal of the season, in the 82nd minute. Moments later in the 85th-minute, Eastham was in on goal again but his shot was saved. Setho Moshoeshoe took the last chance for either side in the second half but his shot was also saved by Rau. The full time whistle sounded off and the Norse would head into overtime for the third time in four games this season.
 
"It shows a lot of character on the kids part," said Basalyga. "We just battled. We aren't afraid to fight or come back."
 
Overtime began on a high note for the Norse as Murphy took the first shot for either side during bonus time. His shot went just over the crossbar and Mohammed Salhieh followed it with a shot of his own moments later that went wide.
 
With seconds remaining in the first overtime, the Norse committed a foul just outside of their own box. Edu Jimenez took the free kick for the Broncos with 12 seconds remaining and was able to beat Fleak and earn a Western Michigan victory.
 
"We just can't start off games down goals," said Basalyga. "If you spend the rest of the game chasing then you never get to play the game your way. There are pieces there and we just have to put them all together.  We competed hard. We can't fault our guys because they battled."
 
The Eastern Illinois University 50 Years of Soccer tournament continues for the Norse on Sunday Sept. 15 at 2 p.m. as the Norse take on the Ramblers of Loyola-Chicago. Live stats are available on nkunorse.com and follow @NKUNorse on Twitter for live updates on the contest and all other news concerning NKU athletics.