DEKALB, Ill. – Antii Peltonen tallied his second consecutive game-winner to lead the No. 25 Kentucky men’s soccer team to a 4-0 win over Northern Illinois on Sunday, Sept. 23. Kentucky improves to 2-0-0 in the Mid-American Conference.

UK (4-2-1, 2-0-0 MAC) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Peltonen took an Olli Lehtimaki assist and sent it past NIU goalkeeper Rasih Pala in just the 12th minute. Peltonen also scored the game-winner against Western Michigan on Friday. At the 23:49 mark, Peltonen and John Monebrake fed Nathan Fleetwood for the 2-0 lead, giving Fleetwood his second goal of the season.

J.D. Stephenson got in on the action six minutes later on a penalty kick for his third of the weekend to go along with the two he scored against WMU. Ilkka Jantti broke to the goal off a free kick and was taken down by Pala to set up the PK.Peltonen then set the final margin in the 52nd minute off another Monebrake assist. Monebrake’s two assists on the day gives him three on the season for a team-leading nine points.

“We played very well,” Coach Ian Collins said. “We totally dominated the game. We were able to finish our chances and our defense was tight. This gives us something positive to build on as we look forward to Louisville.”

On the day, the Huskies (2-5-0, 0-1-0 MAC) out shot the Cats 19-16, but UK goalkeeper Brad Samelko collected eight saves to record his second shutout of the year.

Kentucky returns to the UK Soccer Complex on Wednesday, Sept. 26, to face intrastate-rival Louisville at 7:30 p.m.

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Attendance: 104
Scoring: Kentucky – Antti Peltonen (Olli Lehtimaki) 11:02, Nathan Fleetwood (Peltonen, John Monebrake) 23:49, J.D. Stephenson (penalty kick) 29:07, Peltonen (Monebrake) 51:09, Northern Illinois – none
Shots: Kentucky 16, Northern Illinois 19
Corner Kicks: Kentucky 7, Northern Illinois 6
Goalkeeper Saves: Kentucky – Brad Samelko 8, Northern Illinois – Rasih Pala 6