DeKALB — The football team lost a close game on their opening night to the Boston College Eagles 23-20 as senior kicker Christian Hagan missed a 39-yard field goal that would’ve tied the game with just under two minutes left in regulation.

“We had multiple chances to win that game,” Head Coach Rod Carey said. “I give [Boston College] all the credit in the world; they made one more play than us. I still think there’s a half dozen plays we could have made that [would have] changed the dynamic of the game.”

In the opening quarter sophomore linebacker Kyle Pugh intercepted a pass from Eagles redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Brown. The interception set up a 32-yard field goal by Hagan to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead.

The Eagles would eventually tie the game at 3-3 when junior kicker Colton Lichtenberg knocked down a 42-yard field goal.

The Huskies took the lead in the second quarter as redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Graham threw his first touchdown pass of the season with a 20-yard completion to senior wide receiver D.J Brown.

The Eagles would eventually answer to Graham with a 35-yard field goal and a touchdown.

With a 13-10 lead to begin the second half, the Eagles struck first with a four-yard touchdown catch by sophomore tight end Ray Marten, but the Huskies would answer with a seven-yard touchdown strike from Graham to Shane Wimann, redshirt junior tight end.

The Huskies tied it up as Hagan made a 21-yard field goal.

After an interception from Eagles junior cornerback Lukas Denis, Boston College re-gained the lead after a 37-yard field goal by Lichtenberg. After a 19-yard catch on fourth down from Graham to Wimann, the Huskies had a chance to tie or win, but fell short 23-20.

Even with the NIU loss, Boston College head coach Steve Addazio complimented the Huskies and said they should be optimistic about the season ahead of them.

“I thought [NIU] played really tough, really physical, really competitively and they too were on a roller coaster ride through the whole game,” Addazio said. “I thought they did a phenomenal job and there’s no doubt in my mind they’ll have a heck of a season and a heck of the year.”

The Huskies will face Eastern Illinois University 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Huskie Stadium.