Two successful penalty kicks enabled the Bearcats of Cincinnati to down the Huksies 2-0 in the final NIU Big Central Soccer Conference match of the season Saturday at Huskie Stadium.

Cincinnati forward Greg Page went to net twice following Huskie fouls with 56:48 off the clock and 63:21 gone, giving the Bearcats the win and a 3-2-1 BCSC record—improving their overall record to 7-4-2 on the season.

NIU rapped up its BCSC season with a 0-6-0 ledger, and it currently displays a 6-7-1 overall slate with only two more regular season matches to try and finish with a winning record.

The two penalty shots were only fitting in a game that had a total of 59 fouls—30 for the Huskies and 29 for Cincinnati. However, the Huskies were unable to get some of the calls they would have like to have gotten from the officials.

One particular incident came in the second half when a Bearcat tripped up Vincent Matthews just inside the penalty area. The official ruled the foul outside the area resulting in a free kick instead of a penalty kick.

The only serious action that came from the call was freshman Karsten Roy receiving a yellow card after he made contact with the official while arguing the call involving Matthews.

A total of five yellow cards were issued during the game, many as a result of pushing and shoving amongst players. Coach Roy and some of his players considered the game very agressive and a hard fought battle.

“I give them (Cincinnati) credit,” coach Roy said. “They were very aggressive and challenged us the entire game. They didn’t wait for things to happen. We wait. Cincinnati does not let the ball bounce around.”

Coach Roy cited a lack of concentration as a problem the Huskies had during the game and have had during the season.

“After today’s game, maybe I should start saying we are the best concentrated team in the nation,” Roy said sarcastically.

Coach Roy did give recognition to NIU sophomore Jerry Pruszynski, who came off the bench as a substitute and played solid enough to catch the eye of the Huskie boss.

A down note for the Huskies, besides the loss, was the injury of freshman John Lechner. Lechner left the game in the second half and was on crutches after the game with a sprain.

NIU will have to prepare for the arrival of Wisconsin who rolls into town on Wednesday (Oct.19) to battle the Huskies at 7:30 p.m. on the turf of the Stadium. The regular season will come to a close Sunday (Oct.23) when the Huskies square up against Illinois State at the ISU campus.