The men’s soccer team lost on the road to the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers Tuesday, 1-0.

NIU dominated the possession metrics, outshooting the Ramblers 15-5 in the game and 7-4 on goal.

Despite peppering the Loyola goalkeeper with seven shots on goal, the Ramblers were able to shut out the Huskies.

NIU’s offense had chances off the set piece with four corner kicks compared to Loyola with one.

The game remained scoreless until minute-79 when Ramblers’ senior forward Alec Lasinski scored to get Loyola on the board.

“I don’t think we gave them many opportunities,” Swan said. “For the most part it, was a good defensive effort from us.”

The Huskies had chances to get the equalizer, including one of the final plays of the game when first-year forward Nick Markanich directed a header off the crossbar.

“I thought we had a fantastic opening period,” Swan said. “The first 20-25 minutes we dominated play, and we had a strong finish to the first half. In the second half, I thought we were probably the better team. We created a number of chances and hit the crossbar.”

Swan said NIU had plenty of positives to take away from the game, and he was happy with the chances they created.

“I was disappointed in the manner in which we conceded the goal,” Swan said. “We haven’t been clinical enough in the final third. There were certainly good things to take out of it, but it’s always disappointing to walk away without a win.”

The Huskies return to conference play noon Saturday on the road to take on the Western Michigan University Broncos.

“We’re making mistakes that shouldn’t be happening this late in the season,” Swan said. “It’s important that we get things regrouped and ready for Western Michigan. We need to focus on being smart and playing till the whistle.”