Taking a break from conference play, NIU men’s soccer took on the Valparaiso Crusaders on a stormy Wednesday night, falling 2-1.

The Huskies (3-8-2) got off to another bad start as the Crusaders (2-6-5) struck first.

Junior midfielder Charles Braden got the ball in the ninth minute, from 15 yards out and slipped a left footed shot inside NIU’s goal. This is the second consecutive game the Huskies allowed a goal within the first 10 minutes.

Things got worse when Valparaiso found its second goal of the night in the 13th minute. Sophomore defender/midfielder Eric Nieto gathered the ball off a deflection to fire a 30-yard shot into the upper corner of the net.

Sophomore midfielder Jayson LeSeth said NIU should have had a better start.

“Well, we came out probably not with the right mentality,” LeSeth said. “[We] came out really slow, gave up two soft goals that we shouldn’t have, and we let them play out of things that normally we don’t let teams play out of.”

After a 52-minute rain delay at halftime and a couple of shots on goal, freshman Matt Pritchard put the Huskies on the board in the 61st minute.

Pritchard got behind the Crusaders defense and received a flicked header from freshman midfielder/forward Parker Thornton and slotted the ball into the net. It was Pritchard’s first career goal for the Huskies.

“Its pretty exciting,” Pritchard said. “Would have been better if we got the win but I’ll take goal.”

This gave the Huskies their only goal of the game and they ultimately fell to the Crusaders 2-1.

The Huskies (3-8-2, 2-1-0 MAC) will resume conference play Saturday against Bowling Green (5-7-2, 2-2-0 MAC).

The Falcons won their last MAC game 3-0 over Buffalo but dropped their most recent game, 2-1 against Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Leading the Falcons in goals is junior forward Anthony Grant, tallying six goals on the year.

LeSeth said NIU will need to improve its first half play as the Huskies have made a habit of starting slow.

“I think the first 30 minutes, [we need to improve], LeSeth said. “Throughout the whole year we’ve been making mistakes that we shouldn’t. So I think our focus will be starting the game off right, with the right mentality.”