NIU’s field hockey squad lost a 3-0 decision to the Northwestern Wildcats Wednesday afternoon at Dyche Stadium.

The Huskies slate fell to 1-2 while the ‘Cats made it their season-opening victory, for a 1-0 record.

NU’s Antoinette Lucas started things off by scoring the only goal in the first half. In the second frame with 22:57 left, Lucas assisted Sannie VanDijck to bring the score to 2-0. The final ‘Cats point came at 20:43 when Sue Novack hit the puck into the goal.

“Northwestern just out-classed us with their stick skills,” NIU coach Laurie Bell said. “They’ve got some older Dutch players who have really nice stick skills. But I was proud of the way we hung in there defensively.”

The Huskie squad did not have many opportunities in scoring position. NIU had eight shots at the goal compared to NU’s 24.

The field hockey boss said red-shirt freshman Laura Wehrman and All-America goalie candidate Colleen Preston were the bright spots in the Huskie action. Preston had 12 saves. One of the ‘Cats goals came from a stick deflection off of Preston.

NIU will take its longest road trip of the season beginning Friday at 3 p.m. against American University in Baltimore, Md. The Huskies follow that with two more matches Saturday and Sunday.