“Keep pressuring, keep pressuring,” NIU women’s soccer coach Marci Miller urged her team from the sidelines.

With a 2-1 loss to Western Michigan Friday at Huskie Soccer Field, NIU closed out Miller’s first season with a disappointing record of 5-11-2, including 3-8 in the MAC. But Miller said the “needle is pointing up” when it comes to team cohesiveness, lessons learned and future potential.

“As we’ve developed over the season we went into a high-pressure form of play, and that’s what you’ll see a lot of in the future,” Miller said. “I like to play a high-pressure style of game. We’ll work on it in the spring season and you’ll see more of it from the Huskies next season.”

WMU scored the game winner at 87:26, when an intercepted pass at midfield turned into a three-on-one run at the net. Andrea Tyler and Thalia Playford assisted on the goal to the long-striding Mandi Marsh.

A free-kick goal from Elaine Eliadis from just outside the box pulled NIU even at 1-1 in the 22nd minute. It was the fourth goal on the season for Eliadis. The junior from Sandburg led NIU with 10 points on the season.

WMU got on the board with a Katie Ruzinsky penalty kick in the 12th minute.

Eliadis enjoyed season one under Miller, and looks forward to the offseason and a successful return next year.

“I feel good about our team,” Eliadis said. “I think next year will be better. We aren’t taking a break in the offseason, which will help us take our games to the next level. We know to get better in the future we need to hit (workouts) hard now.”

Heart and determination allowed NIU to be competitive in virtually every game, despite being physically overmatched at times. In the offseason, Miller said her team will use its heart to improve its technique and skill.

“We can play with heart and fight, but you are still getting beat,” Miller said. “So now we have to become better soccer players. I don’t doubt our heart or work rate but now we have seven months to say, ‘What can I do now to become a better soccer player?’ – and we have to get better at it.”