Women’s soccer wasn’t able to keep up its unbeaten streak, ending a five-game run of no losses over the weekend.

The Huskies (5-7-2, 3-1-2 MAC) played the Buffalo Bulls (8-2-3, 4-0-2 MAC) to a double-overtime scoreless draw Friday at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex. Sunday, the Huskies traveled to Akron, Ohio, where they looked to be headed to overtime before a last-second penalty kick gave the Akron Zips (6-7-1, 2-4 MAC) a 1-0 win over NIU.

Calls by the referees left the Huskies reeling. Against Buffalo, the Huskies had a goal disallowed in the 34th minute after the referee said an NIU player pushed Bulls goalkeeper Laura Dougall. Sunday, NIU was called for a foul on an Akron corner kick that set up the game-winning goal by Sarah Sivic on a penalty kick. Head coach John Ross said the referees were wrong in both cases.

“No contact,” Ross said. “She dove. That was the worst call I’ve seen in 40 years. It really sums up our weekend. Friday, we had a goal disallowed. The refs said our player pushed the goalkeeper. The ref was trying to make a point about contact with the goalie. There was a bunch of bodies in the box. He just decided he was going to blow the whistle. … Like I said, that was the worst call I’ve seen in 40 years. We didn’t deserve that with seven seconds left. [In] both games the refs were looking for something to call.”

Buffalo

The Huskies weren’t able to manufacture a goal despite great chances Friday. In the 18th minute, senior Ashley Neubeck fired a cross from just outside the right corner of the box that went just a bit too far ahead of a sliding Nicole Gobbo.

In the 34th minute, the Huskies appeared to score on a corner kick, but the referee waved off the goal because he thought he saw an NIU player push Dougall.

Neubeck said the offense had the opportunities to score but wasn’t able to catch a break.

“It didn’t go our way tonight,” Neubeck said. “It was nice to see that we were getting up the field and getting those chances. …In the future, we just need to capitalize.”

Buffalo played aggressively throughout the game. The Bulls registered 19 shots, but only seven of those shots were on goal. Buffalo’s Kassidy Kidd was responsible for seven shots, but the NIU defense did a good job of keeping her off balance.

Junior Emily Nulty said the defense carried the team during Buffalo’s attacks.

“I think our back line just stood strong, and they did a really good job at organizing the rest of the team, making sure everyone had marks and everything,” Nulty said. “We were able to get any services … cleared. The defense had a lot to do with it.”

Akron

Sunday, the Huskies looked like they were headed into another overtime game with Akron until the last 14 seconds of the match. The Zips’ Karin Norman sent a corner kick into the box, where an Akron player dove after what the referee judged to be contact by an NIU player. The foul set up a penalty kick for Sivic, who sent the game-winner past freshman Amy Annala.

The Huskies were outshot by Akron, 9-6, but NIU had some quality chances to bury a game winner. Sophomore Haley Cummings sent a header into the crossbar in the 40th minute off a corner kick. In the 80th minute, Gobbo fired a shot from the right wing, but Zips’ goalkeeper Klaire Adee saved it.

After getting shut out over the weekend, Ross said the offense needs to do a better job at creating more chances to score.

“Against Buffalo, give us that one goal and it’s a different game,” Ross said. “We have to be hungrier in front of the net. There needs to more willingness to score. We have to work [on] being mentally focused.”

Even with a disappointing weekend, the Huskies are still in a good spot in the MAC with 11 points. The increased parity between the teams has Ross confident NIU can turn this into a good thing.

“There’s not a big difference between the first place and last place teams,” Ross said. “The conference is up for grabs. Anyone can win any game. It depends on what mentality you bring into it.”