Defense has become the forte for women’s soccer as it has gone through conference play.

The defense has carried NIU to a 3-1-2 record in MAC play, which situates the Huskies in second place in the MAC East and fourth place overall.

The Huskies have only allowed four goals in their last six games, and one of those goals came on a controversial penalty kick Sunday against Akron with seven seconds left in the match. The Huskies’ four goals allowed rank them third in the conference behind Buffalo and Miami, respectively.

Statistically, a lot of the credit goes to freshman goalkeeper Amy Annala, who has picked up 37 saves in MAC play. She also saw a 362-minute shutout streak end in the final seconds of the Akron game. She’s been able to make the saves when someone slips through the defense, but that hasn’t happened very often.

Since the loss to the Green Bay Phoenix, the Huskies’ defense has been very aggressive in attacking the ball and keeping opponents off balance. Against Buffalo Friday, the Bulls fired off 19 shots, but very few of those shots were from good spots. They were forced to take a lot of shots from long range, and they were frequently off line or easy pickings for Annala.

The backline, which features junior Kate Wirthlin, senior Gwen Sabo, sophomore Alex Elias and freshman Natalia Pena as starters, has been quick to get to the ball in every game, making it hard for any attack to develop. Wirthlin and Elias have utilized their speed and awareness to eliminate chances and force bad shots.

Sabo takes most of the team’s free kicks, and the addition of her strong leg to the defense has forced opposing squads to have to regroup beyond midfield.

At worst, opposing teams have been able to mount small breakaway attacks that Annala is able to handle easily but are more often than not quickly broken up by a defender racing in from behind.

That’s not even mentioning the play of the midfielders, who have done a solid job of slowing down opposing attacks, which has enabled the Huskies to regroup and respond when teams push the attack. They’ve made it hard for opponents to keep possession and make accurate passes in the midfield.

The Huskies’ defenders have locked down all comers, but that wasn’t the case early in the season. NIU showed signs of having a strong defense, but it was often exposed. Seattle lit up the Huskies, 4-1, Aug. 31 in Hawaii; NIU responded well, allowing just one goal in its next three games. The wakeup call didn’t come until Green Bay scored three goals off corner kicks en route to a 4-0 victory over the Huskies Sept. 19.

The aggressive defending has kept the Huskies afloat in what is shaping up to be a very evenly matched Mid-American Conference. The challenge for the Huskies will be to keep up this high level of defensive play and not dwell on their first loss in conference play.