EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Fairleigh Dickinson men's soccer team scored two goals over the final 13 minutes to down Northern Illinois, 2-1, Friday evening in the opening match of the Lakeside Classic at Lakeside Field on the campus of Northwestern. With the victory, the Knights improve to 5-1-0 on the season, while the Huskies fall to 2-5-0 overall.

"I am proud of the way we fought back to win the game against a good NIU team," Head Coach Seth Roland said. "Our guys showed resiliency, maturity and poise, and both goals were struck very well."

In a very intense match featuring five cautions and one red card issued to the NIU head coach, FDU was having trouble scoring until senior Nicholas Walker found the back of the net in the 77th minute to tie the contest, 1-1, after he collected a rebound off a save by Huskies' goalkeeper Andrew Glaesner.

"It was good to see Nicholas (Walker) get forward and bury the goalkeeper clearance that came back to him," Roland said.

Keeping the pressure high on offense, the Knights took the lead for good in the 84th minute on sophomore Yusuf Hamza's goal, which turned out to be the game winner. Junior Nico Wright passed to sophomore Simon Doherty, who crossed the ball into the box to Hamza. Hamza then finished with a shot from 12 yards out.

"It was also nice to see Yusuf (Hamza) rip his shot into the back of the net," Roland said.

According to the stat sheet, FDU controlled the match, outshooting NIU, 17-6. But in the first half, the Huskies were able to strike first, as Isaac Kannah beat senior goalkeeper Jacob Lissek four seconds into the 21st minute to give NIU an early 1-0 lead.

After 45 minutes of play, the Knights held a 7-3 lead in shots and took the only corner kick.

FDU used a sense of urgency in the second half and finally broke through with 13 minutes left in the contest. The Knights occupied a 10-3 advantage in shots over the final 45 minutes.

Lissek made one save in net for FDU, while Glaesner turned away three for the Huskies. Five of the Knights' 17 shots were on goal.

"This was a very good win for us," Roland said. "Now we have to try and regenerate a bit in time for Sunday's game against a very good Northwestern team."

FDU will conclude the Lakeside Classic against No. 16/17 Northwestern on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. The host Wildcats play St. Mary's (Calif.) Friday night.

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