HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - University of Southern Indiana Men's Soccer rallied in the second half against Northern Kentucky University on Monday evening to earn a 2-2 tie on the road for the Screaming Eagles' second consecutive result to begin the 2026 season.
 
The Screaming Eagles' (0-0-2) hard-fought tie against Northern Kentucky (0-1-1) came after USI erased a two-goal deficit in the final 23 minutes of the match.
 
USI started off slow, not recording a shot until the 67th minute. Meanwhile, the Norse outshot the Screaming Eagles 16-0 in that time frame, scoring twice to take a two-goal advantage before USI's late rally.
 
Sophomore midfielders Brian Novillo and Isaac Weidner led the Screaming Eagles offensively, scoring the team's first goals of the season. The goals were the first career goals for both players. Both goals were assisted by sophomore midfielder Tony Murphy, who gathered his sixth career assist as a Screaming Eagle and took his first two shots, one on goal, of the season. Sophomore forward Kadiri Bello also added two shots, one on goal. USI finished with 10 total shots as a team with five on goal. Between the posts, sophomore goalkeeper Jacob English collected two saves, as USI's defense limited Northern Kentucky to only four shots on target out of 21 total shot attempts.
 
To start the match, USI was forced to defend, as English made an early save in the tenth minute. However, Northern Kentucky found the back of the net a minute later, scoring their first goal inside the penalty area. The Screaming Eagles were outshot 11-0 in the first half, but blocked five shots, with both of English's saves coming in the first 45 minutes.  
 
It only took Northern Kentucky 45 seconds in the second half to score their second goal of the day. After that, it was all Screaming Eagles from there on out. In the 67th minute of the match, Weidner scored on an assist from T. Murphy inside the goal area. With the momentum, USI built on the goal with a second tally in the 83rd minute by Novillo, also assisted by T. Murphy. The Screaming Eagles had three more shots but could not get the go-ahead goal to finish the match, resulting in a tie.
 
Next, the Screaming Eagles make their regular-season home debut at Strassweg Field when USI faces Indiana University Indianapolis on Wednesday, September 2, and will have the opportunity to post its best start to a season since 2017.