GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) --- A trio of goals from the Phoenix in the first half put Green Bay (1-0-1) on top of Northern Illinois (1-1-0), 3-2, but shortly after the start of the second half a delay due to inclement weather brought the game to a halt in play for nearly 40 minutes. Play resumed and Green Bay held strong for the remainder of regulation to collect its first win of the season.
 
The Huskies struck first on Monday night as the Phoenix hosted its second game of the season at Aldo Santaga Stadium, but the Phoenix responded with a trio of goals before the half to take control.
 
NIU's Jan Maertins notched his first goal of the season after teammate Alex Welch saved the ball from going out of bounds for a Phoenix goal kick and centered it to the charging forward who punched it in from seven yards out.
 
The Phoenix didn't take long to respond to the deficit, scoring two goals in the 20th minute to steal the momentum and advantage from the Huskies. The pair of goals came from the feet of Abrahm Hill and Karim Lauba a mere 15 seconds apart from one another.
 
Bernard Assibey Rule tallied the third goal of the night for Green Bay after Kevin Cela found him attacking on the left side from 18 yards out, sealing the team's first win of the season. 
 
Goalkeeper Jamison Yoder recorded a career-high eight saves in the contest, and the Phoenix defense helped turn away a total of 16 Huskies' attempts.

"A difficult game tonight all around," head coach Jeremy Bonomo said. "We had to grind this win out and the stoppage made it that much harder for both teams. I am happy we secured the three points but there's work to be done."
 
The Green Bay men's soccer team will travel to Macomb, Ill., for it next matchup, taking the pitch at Western Illinois on Friday at 3 p.m.
 
STARTING XI
Green Bay: 1-Yoder, 2-Huseini, 3-Baires, 4-Bradford, 5-Hill, 6-Smith, 7-Zloczower, 14-Bourgeouis, 16-Mansa, 17-Lenius, 21-Lauba,
 
Northern Illinois: 1-Koninger, 2-Corona, 3-Markanich, 6-Welch, 9-Rodriguez, 12-Dominguez, 13-Markanich, 15-Maertins, 19-Dunne, 22-Ugarte, 23-Smith
 
NEXT MATCH
Opponent: at Western Illinois
Location: Macomb, Ill.
Date: Friday, August 31
Time: 3:00 p.m. 


 
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