As the NIU men’s soccer team huddled together after its 1-0 loss to Illinois-Chicago, head coach Willy Roy told them, “Keep your head up. You fought hard. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

This seems to be a recurring theme this season, but the Huskies have come so close to winning their last three games that Roy believes the season will begin to get a lot better sooner than later.

“We kept the ball and played better today,” Roy said. “Things will turn around soon.”

The Huskies hurt themselves early when defender Brandon Smick received his second yellow card of the game at the 37:39 mark, forcing NIU to play 10 men on 11 the remainder of the game.

“It was a non-thinking part on one of our upperclassmen,” Roy said.

The Huskies outshot the Flames 22-20 and 10-7 in the second half, when they were down one man.

The Flames struck first when Bruno Rasich received a pass from Sinisa Ubiparipovic and shot passed Huskie netminder Steve Goletz for the lone goal of the game with 24:12 left in the second half.

Opportunities to get on the board for only the second time in its last six games were abundant, but NIU couldn’t manage to slip a shot past UIC goalkeeper Ross Cain.

The NIU offense pressured late in the game, putting numerous shots on goal.

Huskie senior Nick Park rifled a shot toward the goal late in the second half only to have it erased by the goal post.

The Huskies received a free kick with two minutes and 15 seconds left in the game. A low kick rose up as it approached the goal and Cain jumped up and tipped the ball straight up to prevent the ball from reaching the back of the goal.

NIU’s perseverance and unwillingness to give up showed. At one point, the Huskies penetrated the UIC defense and put four consecutive shots on the Flames’ goal, but couldn’t manage to find the back of the net.

With one minute and 10 seconds left, the Huskies’ corner kick fell in front of the net, but no player from NIU could get a piece of the ball.

“We had three bonafide opportunities in the first half, but I am extremely proud of our team,” Roy said. “Thomas [Meiner] had his best game of the year.”

Roy also gave credit to his three captains, Rasih Pala, Peter Agrimson and Park for having strong games and working hard. She also credited goalkeeper Steve Goletz, who recorded six saves in the losing effort.

Smick’s ejection means he must sit out against Akron on Sunday, leaving the Huskies short-handed on defense since they also lost freshman Greg Cryns to injury.

“We don’t have many natural defenders,” Roy said.

On the offensive end, Bernhard Hagevik had six shots, four of them that came close to being his second goal of the season.