Though it might sound redundant, the fact remains that the one thing that has killed the NIU men’s soccer team this season is failure to execute.

That point was never more apparent than in this weekend’s MAC match against Buffalo.

The Huskies outplayed the Bulls in every aspect of the match, but ended up losing 2-1 in overtime to a goal by Dan Bulley, who tallied both Buffalo goals.

The stats don’t lie. The Huskies (4-6-4, 1-1-1) outshot the Bulls 16-6 and had many more chances to score, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Junior forward Chris Johnson scored the only goal for NIU in the 33rd minute.

“When you outshoot a team that much and don’t finish, you set yourself up for upset,” coach Steve Simmons said. “Today was an upset. Buffalo upset us. We were by far the superior team.

“But when you keep teams around, like in any sport, give them a glimpse of light, stuff like that happens.”

Simmons said the defense is not at fault, saying the Huskies need goal support, comparable to run support in baseball.

“We need goal support,” Simmons said. “We left too many shots that were not telling shots for this team. We have good attacking players that are creating chances to score, but we are not converting on those chances. Finishing is everything and we couldn’t finish today.”

The Huskies need to have a short memory about this match. They’ve got No. 11 Northwestern coming to town Wednesday, an opportunity for the Huskies to get the sour taste out of their mouths after the loss to Buffalo.