The battle for the LeWang Cup kicked off Friday, as NIU (1-3-2) took on UW-Milwaukee in the first game of the Northwestern Lakeside Classic.

It was the Huskies who dominated play in the first half, but the Panthers took the lead in the 33rd minute off of a shot from Stuart McBain. McBain gathered the ball off a Milwaukee corner and saw his strike deflect off a NIU player and go into the net.

NIU’s best chance to score came off a Karim Darbaki free kick in the second half, but the Milwaukee goalie did well to deflect it over the bar.

Isaac Kannah was then ejected from the game after picking up his second yellow card, leaving NIU to finish the game with 10 men.

The final whistle blew and the Huskies suffered their third defeat of the season as the Panthers retained the LeWang Cup, winning 1-0.

“I thought we were not great, not terrible on Friday,” said coach Eric Luzzi. “It was a performance that was just OK.”

Sunday, NIU looked to bounce back as it played its second match of the weekend facing Iona (1-6-0).

With both teams trading chances in the first half, it was the Huskies who looked dangerous at the start of the second half. They attempted six corner kicks (nine total), though they were not able to produce a goal.

In the 83rd minute, things went right for the Huskies, as junior Sean Totsch put the ball in the back of the net, giving his team a 1-0 lead.

“I got a good service in the back of the box and just tried my best to put it back across goal,” Totsch said. “It was kind of an accident, but I’ll take it.”

The win was then secured as Gabe Christianson put the Huskies up 2-0 in the 90th minute. Christianson picked up a loose ball, dribbled it the length of the field and put it in an empty goal, as the Iona keeper had gone up for a set piece.

Luzzi was happy his team’s hard work had finally paid off.

“I felt so bad for our guys ’cause its not like we’ve been playing poorly,” Luzzi said. “We’ve been playing very well. We’ve been absolutely dominating teams, just not finishing. I’m happy for our guys. They’ve finally gotten the reward they deserve for the last two weeks.”