The thicket of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s green jerseys protected the net like a forest.

Suddenly, a white flash of NIU lightning cracked, and the game-winning goal skipped into the net. NIU junior Elaine Eliadis’ breakaway goal early in the second half Friday gave the Huskies a 2-1 victory and their first win under new coach Marci Miller.

Miller liked the way her team settled in and fought hard the entire game against UW-GB.

“What I’m most proud about,” Miller said, “is that we didn’t lose heart down 1-0 early.”

NIU (1-0-1) started the game stuck in neutral, outsized by visiting UW-GB. A mere 54 seconds into the game, Stephanie Gross of UW-GB scored when she knocked in a soaring corner kick.

Toting a 1-0 lead, UW-GB controlled the tempo early, attacked freely, and won a majority of the heads-up plays. Miller noticed her team sputtered out of the gate, and challenged her squad to step up its play.

“I asked them, ‘What are you nervous about?’” Miller said. “We have no place to go but up. Are you afraid to finish anywhere lower than 12th in the MAC?”

At the 40-minute mark, freshman midfielder Thea Johnson tied the game 1-1.

The freshman rifled a bullet kick over the head of UW-GB’s keeper from just outside the goalie box.

As cheers of “win the 50-50” reverberated from an enthusiastic bench, NIU started winning the toss-up plays. The bench stood the entire game.

Megan Kolkay, Jenna Clausen, and Hannah Nussbaum took control of the game with some physical challenges to the bigger UW-GB team. Nussbaum’s tough play led to a yellow card shortly after Eliadis’ go-ahead goal.

“It’s more intense this year,” the 5-foot-3 Eliadis said. “Marci brings an intense attitude to this team.”

Senior Alexis Terry anchored the defense that ground out each possession and kept the UW-GB attack at bay.

“The early goal they scored just motivated us.” Terry said. “We knew we had to pick it up and get going.”

After the game NIU clamored for a little respect and set some high goals.

“This is not just the first win,” Terry said. “This is the first win toward doing better than last year.”

NIU 1, Western Illinois 1

The Huskies held off a late WIU rally to salvage a 1-1 tie in the team’s first road game of the season at Macomb.

“They did a real nice job executing that corner kick. As a team, we fought hard and played tough. Unfortunately, late in the second half, we started to wear down,” Miller said.

The Huskies struck first when Clausen connected on a header in the 43rd minute of the match.

WIU tied up the game in the 62nd minute when Kim Shuneman assisted Ashley Hoch on a goal.

Despite the goal, Miller was proud of goalkeeper Carrie Dvorak.

“Carrie was very steady in the net for us, particularly in the second half.”