NKU men’s soccer dominated in the first half, building a 2-0 lead and holding Southern Indiana without a shot for the first 67 minutes, but a late rally from the Eagles forced a 2-2 draw in the Norse’s home opener.

The Norse came out firing on offense as Carlos Merce found the net early in the 11th minute with an assist from Diego Hoenderkamp to give the Norse the 1-0 lead.

Throughout the rest of the first half, NKU applied constant pressure on both ends of the field, taking 11 shots and earning five corner kicks while not allowing Southern Indiana a single shot or corner kick.

NKU opened up the second half with the same momentum they began the match with. Within a minute, Diego Hoederkamp collected his second assist of the night as Silas Borgan put the ball in the back of the net to extend the Norse’s lead to 2-0

NKU continued to hold Southern Indiana down on offense until the 67th minute, when the Eagles finally broke through, turning their second shot of the night into a goal to cut the Norse’s lead to 2-1.

The Norse were unable to hold the same defensive pressure they began with, allowing the Eagles to tie the match in the 83rd minute.

Merce led the Norse on offense, recording six shots, two shots on goal and one goal.

On defense, goalkeeper Caleb Pearson finished with three saves, all coming in the second half.

The Norse look to collect their first win of the season when they host Bellarmine on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m.