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NIU Men’s Soccer Secures Share of Missouri Valley Conference Championship with Dominating 4-0 Victory Over Bowling Green
DeKalb, IL – November 2, 2024 – The Northern Illinois University (NIU) men’s soccer team clinched a share of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) title on saturday, defeating Bowling Green 4-0 in a commanding performance. The victory secures a spot in the MVC Tournament for the Huskies and marks their second league championship in the last five seasons, following their 2021 Mid-American Conference title.
NIU (9-5-3, 4-1-2 MVC) shares the conference regular season title with Evansville and Drake. As the third seed in the upcoming MVC Tournament, the Huskies will host Western Michigan in the quarterfinals on Sunday, november 9th, at 1 p.m.
The Huskies wasted no time establishing control, with Roman Khela scoring his first collegiate goal just six minutes into the match. The play began with Grant Paskus winning possession in midfield and quickly passing to Vance Sheffield, who found Khela on an overlapping run. Khela then cut inside and slotted a shot past Bowling Green goalkeeper Jason Ball.
Just four minutes later, Alex Montoya doubled NIU’s lead with his fourth goal of the season. A long switch to Miguel Angulo sliced open the Bowling Green defense, leading to a cross to Sheffield, who headed the ball into the path of Montoya for a powerful left-footed finish.
NIU continued to press, with Jose Gomez nearly adding a third goal in the 23rd minute with a curling shot that went just wide. Bowling Green’s best chance of the first half came in the 39th minute,but Khela cleared a shot off the line,preserving the Huskies’ 2-0 advantage at halftime.
The Huskies extended their lead five minutes into the second half with a impressive solo effort from Angulo, who dribbled over 40 yards with little resistance before firing a shot past Ball. Montoya capped off the scoring in the 77th minute,receiving a pass from Sheffield and firing a shot from 15 yards out for his second goal of the night.
Vance Sheffield delivered a standout performance, recording three assists – the first huskie to achieve this feat as Alex D’Orsi had three assists on November 5, 1999, in a 4-2 conference tournament victory over Bowling Green.
“We knew with (Bowling Green) still fighting for a place in the conference (tournament), they would come out fired up and make it really competitive,” said NIU Head Coach Ryan Swan. “One of our focal points was we had to match their intensity early on. When Roman got in and scored the first goal, I think it took the nerves off a bit, the guys were confident, and we were creating more chances.It was fantastic to get off to such a good start.”
Bowling Green finished the season with a record of 5-8-4, 1-4-2 in MVC play. The Huskies now turn their attention to the MVC Tournament, aiming for a championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
