The NIU women’s soccer team opened up their regular season schedule Sunday but lacked a potent enough kick to net a win.

The Huskies (0-1) suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Iowa State Cyclones (2-0).

“This is our first regular season game and it was their second, and they also had a couple exhibition games,” said NIU head coach Carrie Barker. “It definitely was an influence in the game today because they had more games under their belt.”

Both goals for the Cyclones came in the first half. The first goal came off of a rebound, scored by Iowa State’s Jennifer Dominguez to put her team up 1-0.

Huskie goalkeeper Amy Carr had an explanation for the allowance.

“We struggled to clear our own line, and unfortunately Iowa State took advantage of that and toe-poked the ball past us,” Carr said.

The second goal was scored from about 25 feet out and was tallied by the Cyclones’ Ashley Johnson, with an assist from Alyssa Elver.

The shots by both teams were dead even at eight a piece. Iowa State had one more shot on goal (5-4) and also held an edge in corner opportunities by a five-to-one margin.

As far as the loss went, Barker liked what she saw on the defensive end.

“We played much better than we did in our exhibition game,” Barker said. “Overall our team defense got better. We made two mistakes today and they put their opportunities away.”

With 18 games remaining on tap, the Huskies still have plenty of time to become a more cohesive unit. NIU has seven starters returning, but lost four from last season.

Carr believes that chemistry is important as well.

“We’re still trying to build and develop as a team and still trying to get to know each other on and off the field,” Carr said. “We’re getting there. It will take a few more games.”

Coming up next for the Huskies is the NIU Tourney. NIU will square off against South Dakota State and North Dakota on Aug. 26 and 28, respectively.