The non-conference portion of the women’s soccer schedule came to an end Sunday afternoon against the South Dakota Coyotes.

The Huskies (4-3) once again used a quick offensive start in a 4-1 win over the Coyotes (1-6-2).

NIU scored three goals in the match’s first 15 minutes.

Junior defense/mid-fielder Courtney Ksiazek scored her first goal of the season in the game’s second minute off a rebound coming from a Lauren Noonan header.

Just nine minutes after the Huskies’s first goal, junior Cori Frankenberg registered her fourth goal of the season to put the Huskies up 2-0. Noonan set up Frankenberg, who curled it in off the near post.

Sophomore forward Allie McBride capped the scoring in the first 15 minutes with her first goal of the season. McBride scored off a rebound of senior mid-fielder Shelbi Johnson’s shot, which hit the crossbar.

McBride said her team’s success early in games is due in part to the Huskies’s hard work.

“I think that we just come out hard and we get really pumped up before the game,” McBride said. “We’re ready to play. We come ready every single time and we just want to come out our hardest. So, every single time we step on the field, we give it our all.”

After halftime the Coyotes built a little bit of momentum, which helped them earn a goal in the 73rd minute on a penalty kick by senior mid-fielder Erin Bello; it was Bello’s second goal of the season.

In the 81st minute, the Huskies increased their lead back to three with the first goal of the season for freshman forward/mid-fielder Kate Wirthlin. Frankenberg and McBride were both given assists on the Huskies fourth goal on the afternoon.

NIU women’s soccer head coach John Ross said his team has to do one thing in order to carry the momentum of this two-game winning streak into MAC play:

“I think we just have to go back to work and do what we’ve been doing all year and really push ourselves to get better.”

A representative from South Dakota was unavailable for comment after the game.