Men’s soccer (7-3-0, 1-0-0 MAC) kept IUPUI winless for the year, defeating the Jaguars on Tuesday.

The Huskies only outshot IUPUI by one in the first period but the shots proved to be pivotal in the win. NIU got on the board in just the 17th minute, scoring on a penalty kick goal by senior defender Taylor Cole, his third of the young season.

Soccer picked up four consecutive fouls following the goal, bringing its period total to seven, but managed to pick up another score in the 26th minute as freshman forward Giovanni Pacheco assisted on a goal by sophomore midfielder Nicolas Wandl, the first of his career. The Huskies picked up two saves in the period to go along with their two goals.

Both teams were quiet in the second period as NIU outshot the Jaguars 10-7. IUPUI was able to pick up five saves but wasn’t able to capitalize on any of them as they also collected 13 fouls. Intrepid efforts gave the Jaguars quite a few chances to condense the Huskies lead, but none came to fruition as NIU closed the contest 2-0.

“IUPUI is a very hard team to play against,” said head coach Eric Luzzi, according to an NIU Athletics news release.

“They are committed, they have some athletic pieces, they are pretty direct and the guys they have up top battle, fight and scrap for everything. From that standpoint, I thought our guys managed that well and matched their will and their intensity.”

The Huskies have won three of their last five games and sit at second place in the MAC.

They will take on Akron at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Akron, Ohio.

Akron currently ranks first in the MAC with a 9-2-1 record.