NIU Division III men’s hockey team (2-2) fell short to Northwestern (4-0), 6-4.

The two teams combined for six goals in a penalty-filled first period.

NIU took a 4-3 lead early in the second period on a shorthanded goal by Brett Wheeler.

The Huskies were unable to get much offense going for the remainder of the game. Head coach John Lyne said there was one reason why NIU did not get much offense in the second and third periods.

“Second period we were killing penalties almost the whole period,” Lyne said. “They had two five-on-threes which we were able to kill off. “That last period was just bad penalty after bad penalty.”

On Saturday, the Huskies dropped their second game in a row losing 4-1.

NIU’s penalty kill kept the team in the game, going eight-for-eight.

“Our penalty killing was a lot better today and we did not have to do it quite as much, which was definitely a big help.” Lyne said.

Down 2-0, NIU cut the lead in half with a five-on-three goal scored late in the second period by junior Billy Lyne. But that was as close as the Huskies could get.

“They were just playing a lot better defense tonight and checking hard on the puck,” Wheeler said. “The goalie was making some nice saves and he was controlling his rebounds a lot better then he was last night.”