All three Huskies that scored in the ISU-NIU soccer game Wednesday afternoon were oblivious to the rivalry one year ago.

Yet, Jim Hall, Jay Conrad and Derek Niepomnik shook off Redbirds and tore up the grass of Huskie Soccer Field like it was their own backyards.

“I mentioned to the kids how important that game was for us last year,” NIU coach Willy Roy said. “So, we wanted to make sure that we sort of got even with them.”

With the help of Hall’s first tally as a Huskie, NIU jumped out to a 1-0 lead with just over three minutes to play in the first half. Hall, a transfer from Cal State-Northridge with two years of eligibilty, had added incentive to show Redbird coach Tim Carter a thing or two.

“After I decided to transfer in the spring, NIU made a mistake and said I didn’t meet admissions,” Hall explained, “so I called the ISU coach, but he never called me back. Then I found out it was a mistake that I wasn’t admitted (to NIU).

“So, I’m glad I got the goal and we beat them because he (Carter) never called me back.”

Niepomnik and Conrad are rookies, so the veterans reminded them all week about last year’s 4-1 loss that prevented them from appearing in the NCAA Tournament.

“A lot of the talk was about how ISU is a great team and how they stuck it to us last year,” Conrad said.

Conrad stuck his head out with 16:39 to go in the game, and the result was a perfect header to the left side of the ISU net that turned out to be the game-winner.

“I just got a great cross from John Lechner—it came right to my head,” Conrad said. “It wasn’t a great goal—all I had to do was get in the way.”

Niepomnik then iced the cake with a little under 10 minutes to go. The Niles native took a pass from Dave Weichman and botted a grounder between the legs of the Redbird goalie.

“We kept telling them that this was a love-hate relationship,” senior goalie Markus Roy said. “We hate them, but we love to win. We knew they were good players, and they came through today.”

“They are winners,” Roy said, “you could just see it in them.”

So could the ISU Redbirds.