NIU women’s soccer (1-7-2) started off the conference portion of its schedule with losses to Toledo (3-5-1), 1-0 and Ball State (6-4-1) 3-0.

On Friday, the Huskies hosted Toledo in DeKalb and played to a draw with the preseason MAC favorite through 90 minutes.

Toledo had a solid scoring chance in the 10th minute of the match, with a shot ticking just off the crossbar and deflecting away from the goal.

The Huskies had a hard time getting things going offensively, as Toledo was led by Natalia Gaitan, co-captain of the first Women’s Columbia team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

After playing 90 minutes of hard-fought soccer, the game went into overtime, during which Toledo finally hit pay-dirt, scoring with three minutes left. Nicole Gyurgyik scored the goal with the assist coming from Kristen Mattei.

“[It was] two very good teams battling it out,” said NIU head women’s soccer coach Carrie Barker. “We both had our opportunities at different points of the game. I couldn’t have asked our kids to work any harder. We broke down defensively for just a split second and that cost us a goal.”

On Sunday, NIU made the trek to Ball State University to take on the Cardinals under less than ideal circumstances.

“The conditions were very wet and slick,” Barker said. “We didn’t adjust well to the wet conditions. We didn’t seem to have that fight and effort that I know our team can give.”

Ball State started early with scoring. Sarah Orisich, assisted by Paige Stroinksi, scored the first goal of the game at the 34th minute-mark on a deflection.

At the 58-minute mark, Pavla Benyrova knocked a goal in, which was assisted by Kelsey Shapiro and Ellie Chadick.

Becca Sutton in the 68th minute mark, scored the third goal, which assisted by Pavla Benyrova, and it sealed the game for the Cardinals.

After disappointing losses, the team has experienced seniors on the field to which to turn.

“[We’re] keeping our heads up and staying positive. It’s early in the season,” said senior forward/midfielder Kelsey Passaglia. “There’s only so much you can do; it turns out how it turns out. We have to move on to the next one.”

The Huskies will be back home for their next to games, searching for their first conference win.

“These next few games certainly become important and it helps that we’ll be at home,” said senior goal-keeper and captain Meaghan Bennett. “Weekends like this are definitely heart-breakers, but it’s weekends like these that you use as fuel to keep pushing because the season is not over.”