Historic winds pushed through DeKalb on Tuesday and found their way to Michigan for the NIU men’s soccer match Wednesday.

The Huskies pushed through the gusts to pick up their first MAC win of the season with a 2-0 result against Western Michigan in Kalamazoo.

“Our guys put in a very high rate of work today,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “As an extension of the high level of work, when we got on the ball, we were able to be quite good and do a lot of good things.”

NIU (7-6-2 overall, 1-4-0 MAC) outshot the Broncos 13-7 and both teams put three of their shots on target.

Despite the wind being in their faces in the first half, the Huskies found the back of the net twice in the first 15 minutes.

“It required commitment and energy from the beginning and our guys brought it,” Luzzi said.

In the third minute, junior midfielder Kenny Kranz dribbled through the defense and found Brad Horton, who ripped a shot from 10 yards out for his first of the season.

11 minutes later, senior striker Juan Hoyos received a bouncing cross from senior midfielder Lois Mojica and volleyed a shot through the keeper’s hands.

Sophomore keeper Jordan Godsey made three saves en route to his sixth shutout of the season.

Not only were the 40 to 50 mile per hour winds having an effect on the match, but NIU had to deal with another unalterable characteristic.

“We had a couple of looks in front of goal that I think guys would normally finish; we were playing on a bumpy grass field, and it takes a bad bounce before it hits one of our guys and a shot that normally somebody would finish, we end up hitting over the goal,” Luzzi said. “I think in games past, our guys would have gotten frustrated by that, but I thought our guys kept a good level of focus and persevered through all of those challenges.”

WMU (7-7-2, 2-2-0) has now lost three in a row and is currently on a six-match winless streak.

With the victory, NIU is 6-1-0 against the Broncos since 2004 and is 15-6-1 in the all-time series.

“Every game in Division I is a much needed win,” Luzzi said. “It was a good statement of how good a team we could be because Western Michigan’s pretty good.”