NIU field hockey coach Laurie Bell and the rest of the Huskies are looking back on this past weekend wondering what could have been.

On Friday, the Huskies surprised the No. 3 ranked Northwestern Wildcats by scoring a goal with only 3:17 gone in the first half. Maaike Schroeder was credited with the goal.

Northwestern finally solved the solved the Huskies defense with a goal late in the first half. With the score tied at 1-1, the Huskies offense continued to put constant pessure on Northwestern and nearly scored a goal with under 1:00 to go in the first half.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, Northwestern dominated the second half of the contest. The Wildcats’ tough defense and fatigue on NIU’s squad added up to a 2-1 Northwestern victory.

“I thought we outplayed them in the first half,” said Bell. “It would have been nice to get an insurance goal for morale. We were really close too. But every time we’ve come close (against Northwestern) in the last two years, we get the door slammed in our face,” added Bell.

On Sunday, the Huskies came out flat against the Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines, who also played sloppy, finally defeated the Huskies 1-0 in overtime. “We didn’t play as well as we have recently, and late in the game fatigue made play sloppy and we made a lot of mistakes,” explained Bell.