NIU lacrosse was awarded a 1-0 victory Saturday versus when the University of Chicago (0-6) after forfeit.

The Huskies (4-1) had to work much harder in their game against the Foresters of Lake Forest College (0-6). The Huskies (5-1) won the hard-fought game 6-4 over the Foresters (2-4).

Both teams got off to slow starts in the first 15 minutes of the game. Lake Forest put points on the scoreboard in the final seconds of the first quarter.

NIU sophomore attackman Mike Walczak said he thought it was one reason why the Huskies were unable to score in the first quarter.

“I just think we kind of came out flat,” Walczak said, “And by the end of the first quarter everybody was just warmed up and ready to go.”

In the second quarter, the Huskies responded with back-to-back goals from Walczak. Lake Forest would answer and tie the score at two going into halftime.

Not much changed in the second half between NIU and Lake Forest. The largest lead enjoyed by either team was only two goals throughout a tightly contested second half. Walczak would score two more goals on the afternoon. His fourth goal put the Huskies up 5-3.

Sophomore attackman Tyler Nicholson and junior midfielder Zack Downey also scored in the Huskies 6-4 win over the Foresters.

Junior defenseman Pat Kelly said communication was key to NIU’s victory.

“Lake Forest is a good team. They’re good with moving the ball around They’re good fundamentally,” Kelly said. “And then we kept our communication up. We knew where everyone was; everyone was talking. All the slides were getting there. We had our one and two slides going great and it just shut them down whenever they were passing. It made them drop the ball a lot.”

No one from Lake Forest was available to comment following the game.