The Banuelos goal capped a dominant performance that saw the Huskies out-shoot the Mastodons, 19-6, while holding a 60 percent advantage in possession.
"For the first 25 minutes I thought we were excellent," said NIU head coach Ryan Swan. "We were opening things up and I thought it was going to continue to go that way. We just seemed to be lacking something in the final third, but I was still confident. Zack (Thomas) was causing problems, (Enrique) was looking sharp, Nick (Markanich) was looking sharp.
"We just felt that if we kept going the chance was coming. I was happy that the guys kept their heads and we were able to find the goal."
NIU was on the front-foot from the opening kickoff and had an excellent chance to open the scoring in the 21st minute as a shot by Camilo Estrada (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star) was parried by Purdue Fort Wayne goalkeeper Erik Josson right back into a dangerous area. Estrade pounced on it and found Nick Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) at the top of the six-yard box, but he was unable to keep his effort on target.
The Huskies had another great chance just before the half hour-mark as Estrada found Anthony Markanich (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) inside the box and his acrobatic effort was palmed away by Josson.
Purdue Fort Wayne's only chance of the first half came in the 44th minute as a shot by Keith Larson was stopped by Martin Sanchez (Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy).
Early in the second half, the Mastodons nearly caught NIU on the counter as Larson hit the bar with a shot in the 53rd minute. Purdue Fort Wayne earned a corner and, after the ball bounced in the box, Larson's bicycle kick effort came back off the crossbar.
With NIU still holding the majority of the possession, Harry Jolley (Liverpool, England/St. Margaret Academy) had a chance in the 69th minute as he rose highest from a corner and flicked a header just over the crossbar as the contest remained level.
Two minutes later, Nick Markanich got on the end of a cross from Zachariah Thomas (Burnaby, British Columbia/Moscrop Secondary) and forced Josson to scramble the ball away.
Banuelos finally made the breakthrough in the 72nd direct from a free kick. NIU won a free kick just on the edge of the box inside the 'd' and the Mexico City native stepped over the ball to take it. Banuelos' right-footed effort powered through the arm of Josson and into the back of the net to give the Huskies a deserved advantage.
"Every time that he is in there, he strikes the ball so well," Swan said of Banuelos on free kicks. "It is always dangerous. When he got another look five minutes later, I thought he might get a second. (Enrique) has really tried to master free kick-taking and when you do that it is going to give you results. All credit to him on the amount of work he puts into set pieces, he is a danger every time."
In the 78th minute, Sanchez made a stop on a Purdue Fort Wayne chance by Ali Nasser.
The Mastodons were reduced to 10 men 10 minutes from time as NIU saw out a season-opening victory.
Sanchez made a pair of saves in the win for the Huskies, Josson had eight stops for Purdue Fort Wayne.
NIU will return to action on Monday, Aug. 30, when the Huskies travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame. Kickoff against the Fighting Irish is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ACC Network Extra.
Banuelos Free Kick Lifts Huskies to Season Opening Win - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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