DeKALB | Women’s soccer (0-1-1) took its talents to Milwaukee, Wis. on Sunday as it faced off against the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (2-0-0) at Engelmann Stadium, taking a 3-1 loss.

NIU started the game quickly as sophomore forward Taylor Sarver delivered a goal in the fifth minute on an assist by fellow sophomore forward Kate Sanfilippo, sending a long ball the Milwaukee defense could not read.

The defender was not able to get the long ball served on her feet as Sarver saw an opportunity and attacked the ball, shooting it with no time for the goalie to interfere.

The goal,which gave the Huskies an early 1-0 lead, was Sarver’s first of the season and third of her career at NIU. The assist was Sanfilippo’s first of the season and second of her career. 

“Taylor [Sarver] saw space and she took advantage of a nice ball in wide open space and put it in [the] net,” said head coach John Ross, according to an NIU Media Services press release.

The Huskies had control of the pace early on but it didn’t last long as the Panthers responded six minutes later with a goal of their own.

NIU played hard defense for the remaining 34 minutes of the half and was able to hold Milwaukee to one goal, only allowing the Panthers to take two shots at the goal.

The game remained tied for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Milwaukee junior infielder Callie O’Donnell struck another goal into NIU’s net in the 60th minute, her second goal of the match. hortly after, Milwaukee got another good ball off of their foot from a corner kick to go up 3-1.

Sophomore goalie Mackenzie Lee worked hard to defend Huskie territory, but the Panthers proved to be too much. Lee made four saves in just the fifth start of her career.

The Huskies continued to fire shots at Milwaukee’s goal but to no avail as Milwaukee won 3-1.

“We need to keep building this week, particularly in our organization and in one-on-one situations,” Ross said. “We saw some really good things offensively and defensively Friday, but we had a tough time today with the Sunday turnaround. Each team has to deal with that week-to-week.”

NIU will hit its home field this week as it faces off against Western Illinois University at 2 p.m. Sunday at the West Tennis Courts.