EVANSTON, Ill. - Chris Ritter and Piero Bellizzi tallied second-half goals as the No. 16 Northwestern men's soccer team twice came back from one-goal deficits to defeat Western Illinois 3-2 Wednesday evening at Lakeside Field.

Matt Eliason also added his Big Ten-leading 10th goal of the season to go along with an assist as the Wildcats ran their unbeaten streak to 10 straight matches.

Northwestern (7-1-4) controlled possession throughout the contest and had Oliver Kupe just miss on a pair of early chances before the Leathernecks struck first at the 11:38 mark. Adam Rappin possessed a loose ball at the top of the box and found the net to give the visitors the early advantage.

A little over five minutes later, NU knotted the score as Eliason was up to his old tricks. The junior forward received a through ball from Kyle Schickel and was able to beat WIU keeper Stephen Paterson one-on-one. Eliason's nine goals entering the match ranked tied for fifth in the nation.

The match appeared headed for a halftime tie before the visitors struck again in the final two minutes of the first period. Western Illinois (3-8-0) again found an opening at the top of the box as David Puka finished a feed from Husref Jupic.

Northwestern went into the intermission down a goal despite holding a 9-3 advantage in shots over the opening 45 minutes of play.

The hosts got back to even five minutes and 41 seconds into the second stanza as the Wildcats earned a corner kick and Chris Ritter finished at the back post off Mark Blades' service. It was the first goal of Ritter's collegiate career.

NU managed to take its first lead of the match at the 71:34 mark and it held up the rest of the way. Eliason found Piero Bellizzi at the top of the box and the junior beat Paterson into the right side of the net for his third tally of the year.

Misha Rosenthal made three saves as Northwestern out-shot Western Illinois 20-7 and had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.

The Wildcats return to Big Ten play at 7 p.m. Saturday as it continues its homestand against Wisconsin.