The men’s soccer team split a weekend series in Texas, winning 1-0 Friday over the Houston Baptist University Huskies and losing 3-2 Sunday to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros.

“On the positive side, we generated a lot of chances in both games,” Head Coach Ryan Swan said. “We scored three nice goals. There were a lot of positive signs. Friday’s performance showed that when we stick to the game plan and stay disciplined, we’re a hard team to score against. There were a lot of positives to take out of the weekend.”

Friday – Houston Baptist

NIU drew first blood Friday evening on a strike from senior mid fielder Kevin Rodriguez in the 25th minute, his first goal of the season. That was all the scoring the Huskies would need, as they defeated their Houston Baptist counterparts 1-0.

NIU dominated Houston Baptist the entire game despite the close scoring totals. They outshot their opponent 19-1, including a remarkable 12-0 shots on goal.

“I don’t know that we expected [to dominate possession], but we felt confident going into the game,” Swan said. “We played well and generated some chances. We probably should have scored a couple more. It was a very [strong] performance.”

In the first half alone, Northern Illinois put up eight shots without conceding a single shot to their opponent.

Junior goal keeper Konrad Dziedzic posted his second shutout of the season without even needing to make a save.

NIU improved to 2-1 with another game to play Sunday afternoon.

Sunday – Texas Rio Grande Valley

The Huskies struck first once again, this time in the 24th minute, by sophomore midfielder Alex Welch. They have now scored the opening goal in every match of the season.

Unfortunately NIU continued their trend of allowing a series of goals against in a short amount of time. The Vaqueros score three goals in just under six minutes to shock the Huskies and take a 3-1 lead in the second half. Two of three goals were scored less than a minute apart.

The only two losses Northern Illinois has endured have contained such lapses.

“I think it’s just a lack of experience,” Swan said. “When we score goals or concede them, there’s a little bit of a lack of composure. We’ll get an early goal and it looks like we’re not in danger of conceding. Then we concede a goal on a bit of a mix up and I think the guys panicked even though we were still in an okay situation.”

NIU responded in the 70th minute with a goal from senior forward Noah Brodie, who was freshly substituted into the game.

Four yellow cards were handed out, two per side, but Swan said it wasn’t because things were getting nasty out on the pitch.

“Towards the end of the game they were trying to kill the clock,” Swan said. “I don’t think things were getting too tense. I think maybe [some players] were getting a little over-zealous. We were trying to challenge and they were trying to kill the clock. Yeah, there were a couple yellow cards, but I don’t think things were getting nasty.”

The Huskies host their home opener against the Purdue University Fort Wayne Mastodons 8 p.m. Friday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex immediately following the women’s soccer team’s match.

“We’re excited to finally come play at home after playing four straight games on the road,” Swan said. “It will be nice not to have to travel and we’re excited to play in front of the NIU community. Hopefully we’ll have a good showing on Friday. We hope to start our home season off with a win.”