NIU women’s soccer played two regular-season games before the start of the school year.

The Huskies (1-1) faced the Drake Bulldogs (2-2) to begin their 2012 season Friday, losing 2-1.

Drake and NIU were both held scoreless in the match’s first 45 minutes.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring with a 47th minute penalty kick by junior mid-fielder Brittany Schuling.

The Huskies tied the score at one in the 66th minute when newcomer red-shirt senior Anna Roman-Pleschko scored her first career goal in a Huskies uniform.

Pleschko, a Glenview native, said it was nice to see her work in practice translate into success on the field.

“It felt great,” Pleschko said. “It was awesome, but the best thing about it was that it felt so natural because we had practiced so much in practice, you know, scoring and finishing. So when it happened, it felt great to put it on the record, but it felt like a routine because we’ve gone over it so many times.”

The Bulldogs would score the game-winning goal in the 76th minute, on a header by Ashlie Stokes.

NIU would rebound two days later with a 1-0 win against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (1-2).

Corinne Frankenberg, junior forward/mid-fielder broke the scoreless tie against the Cougars with a shot 28 yards from goal.

Frankenberg talked about what NIU’s first victory of the season in only their second game felt like, after it took the Huskies seven games to get their first win a season ago.

“It’s reassuring to us that we’ve come so far during the preseason and that we’re really ready to show everyone that were a new team, and were just excited.” Frankenberg said.

Women’s soccer head coach John Ross said there were things his team did well in the second half to preserve the victory against the cougars.

“I think what they did is they just stayed organized and stayed within our system,” Ross said. “And when we’re able to do that, we’re very tough to score on.”

Junior goalkeeper Amy Carr registered her 10th career shutout in the Huskies’ first victory of the season.