LOVES PARK, Ill. (February 14, 2021)
 
In Short…
Juniors Fabian Becerra and Billy Hency each found the back of the net in the first half as the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team notched a 2-0 victory over in-state rival Northern Illinois this afternoon inside the Mercyhealth Sportscore Two in Loves Park, Ill.  Today's victory moves the Ramblers to 1-1-0, while the Huskies fall to 0-2-0.
 
Head Coach Neil Jones' Thoughts…
"We always have great battles with Northern Illinois.  They're a very good team and hard to play against.  We had our hands full today, but, defensively, I thought we did pretty well.  We had two good finishes from set pieces.  Fabian had a great header off a corner and earned us the penalty kick.  It was a good team effort in grinding out our first win of the season."
 
How It Happened
Both teams struggled to generate chances in the opening quarter of an hour.  Freshman Julian Cisneros and junior Ethan Stoneman registered chances in rapid succession in the 22^nd minute, with Cisneros seeing his shot blocked before Stoneman fired high of goal.  Cisneros was back in the mix again shortly after, forcing a stop out of Northern Illinois goalkeeper Martin Sanchez.
 
Becerra broke the deadlock in the 24^th minute.  Sophomore Marc Torrellas sent a corner kick towards the middle of the box and Becerra did the rest, heading past Sanchez to put Loyola on top, 1-0.  The Ramblers doubled their lead just six minutes later, as Hency converted from the penalty spot following a Northern Illinois foul in the box to send the Maroon & Gold into halftime with a 2-0 edge.
 
Loyola came out of the locker room with its foot on the gas, with Hency and sophomore Alex Moskal both forcing stops out of Sanchez in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. 
 
Junior Simon Jillson, who was inserted in goal after the intermission for graduate student Marcel Kampman, turned away the Huskies' lone attempt on target in the 72^nd minute, going to the ground to deny Roque Viegas Jr.  Loyola closed out the shutout from there, securing its first win of 2021.
 
Looking At The Numbers
- Becerra's goal in the 24^th minute was Loyola's first of 2021 and the junior's sixth career tally.
- Like Becerra, Hency added the sixth goal of his career in the 31^st minute, converting his first collegiate penalty kick.
- The Ramblers finished the day with an 11-9 lead in shots, putting six attempts on goal.
- The two in-state foes combined for 40 fouls and five yellow cards.