The NIU women’s soccer team held the game scoreless for the first half during its fifth match in three days, but Illinois State chiseled away at the Huskies to win 2-0 Tuesday.

The Redbirds (4-3-2) kept sophomore goalkeeper Carrie Dvorak busy with six shots on goal in the first half, all of which Dvorak saved. ISU broke the ice with 10:31 gone in the first half with a goal by senior Heather Forsyth, giving the Redbirds the lead at Adelaide Street Field .

“In the first half, we played good soccer and were doing some good things,” NIU coach Frank Horvat said. “In the second half we started substituting, and that affected us. We were tired from the weekend, but we let another game go that we could have won. We just didn’t do a lot of the little things right like we had been.”

The Huskies (1-8-1, 0-4-1) came off a 3-0 loss to Buffalo on Friday and a 1-1 tie at home against Ohio on Sunday.

Senior defenders Tiffany Anderson and Maggie Nowicki and goalkeeper Leigh Steigerwald all did not play due to injuries received during Sunday’s game.

According to Horvat, Anderson is likely to be out for the year with a torn ligament, while Steigerwald’s back injuries are day-to-day.

The Redbirds had been on a five-game losing streak before ousting Northern Iowa on Sunday.