Men’s soccer (3-1-0, 0-0-0 MAC) went 2-0 in the NIU Adidas Invitational on the weekend, defeating Florida Atlantic and Stetson in two 1-0 games, while women’s soccer went winless in the Baylor Tournament.

Men’s soccer

The Huskies started the weekend against Florida Atlantic on Friday, beating the Owls in a game that only saw one goal. Sophomore defender Luke Read saved the day for NIU, scoring its only goal, which turned out to be the goal that decided the game in the 82nd minute of play. The goal was the first of Read’s career.

The Huskies had many opportunities to take over the game, but couldn’t capitalize on Florida Atlantic’s mistakes, keeping the game a tight affair throughout.

“It was a solid performance, not perfect, but I thought it was pretty professional,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi, according to an NIU Athletics news release. “I thought we were pretty comfortable when we had the ball. We were solid defensively and we limited their chances. When you only allow one shot on goal that is a pretty good day defensively.”

The loss kept Florida Atlantic winless on the season, bringing its season totals to 0-3-1. With the win, NIU remained undefeated at home on the season, as all of its wins have come at home.

Stetson

The second game of the weekend for the Huskies against Stetson came Sunday, and the game followed similar paths of the first game. For the second time in three days, NIU won by a score of 1-0.

Read continued his weekend heroics, hitting yet another game-winning goal — this one coming in the 88th minute. Read’s back-to-back game winners gave him honors on the NIU Adidas Invitational All-Tournament team.

“We had a decent performance today,” Luzzi said, according to an NIU Athletics news release. “It wasn’t our best but it was the first time we had played Friday-Sunday, so we knew it would be difficult for the guys to get up for a second game in 36 hours. I think there is room for a more cutthroat mentality in the attack. We had a fair amount of the ball, some half-chance, some decent chances; but there is room for growth in that area.”

With the win, the Huskies were named co-champions of the NIU Adidas Invitational after winning both of their games. The invitational will continue this week as NIU goes up against Marquette at 7:00 p.m. Friday at the NIU Soccer Complex.

Women’s soccer

Women’s soccer (2-5-0, 0-0-0 MAC) started its weekend off against Baylor (2-4-1, 0-0-0 Big 12), falling in a 2-0 contest to the Bears.

Freshman midfielder Julie James scored both goals for Baylor. Her first goal came in the 13th minute of action and her second came in the 68th. The Huskies were never able to break free, missing out on chances they had throughout the game to make things tough for the Bears.

“I’m proud of the team. We fought for everything tonight – every header, every loose ball,” said NIU head coach John Ross, according to NIU Athletics. “They had so much speed and talent, but I’m proud of the way we performed. We also had a few chances ourselves.”

The win gave Baylor only its second win on the season, as it has stuggled thus far to get going on the year.

Louisiana-Lafayette

The Huskies ended the weekend with a game against Louisiana-Lafayatte, falling 2-1 for yet another loss.

NIU only scored one goal in the game despite outshooting the Cayennes 13-9. Senior forward Nicole Gobbo scored her team-leading third goal of the season, giving the Huskies their lone goal of the game.

“We’re confident that we’ll get things right when MAC [play] begins in two weeks,” Ross said, according to NIU Athletics. “We figured a lot of things out about ourselves this weekend. Our players understand their roles better and know they’ll have to step up for us to achieve our goals in the MAC.”

Freshman forward Annika Schmidt scored both goals for Louisiana-Lafayette in the game, doing so in only the first 25 minutes of action. With the loss, the Huskies have lost six games in a row and have had a hard time finding a groove on the season.

NIU will have lots of time to rest, as they don’t play again until Sept. 25 when they take on Toledo at the NIU Soccer Complex.