A long road trip was made even more difficult as the NIU women’s soccer team suffered two lopsided defeats this weekend.

On Friday against MAC foe Ohio, the Huskies (2-5,0-3) lost 5-1, allowing three unanswered goals in the second half.

“We just didn’t come out to play this weekend as we did in the past few games,” coach Frank Horvat said. “It was a real let down for all of us.”

As the first half winded down, the Huskies suffered a major blow as junior goalie Leigh Steigerwald was injured by an errant elbow on a corner kick. Along with suffering a concussion, Steigerwald required eight stitches above her right eye.

With Steigerwald down and freshman netminder Carrie Dvorak out with a broken thumb, Horvat was forced to put third-string junior Akiko Iwabuchi in at goal. Iwabuchi switched to midfielder after being a back-up goalkeeper last year.

Down 2-0 and with their third string goal-keeper in, the Huskies tried to come back as junior Katie Klaas scored her first goal of the season 45 seconds into the second half. Klaas’ goal came on a free kick from 20 yards out.

More than a minute later, Ohio’s Christel Schiering scored her league-leading ninth goal of the season to start the Bobcats’ onslaught as they added two more goals to seal the victory.

On Sunday at Marshall, NIU fared no better as Marshall’s Ashley Schillig netted a hat-trick in the first period to derail the Huskies’ hope of salvaging the road trip.

After the Thundering Herd netted three second-half goals to go up 6-0, freshman Chanelle Crosby, with an assist from freshman Kelley Kelso, hit the back of the net for her second goal of the season to put NIU on the board in the 6-1 defeat.

On top of the loss, junior co-captain Maggie Nowicki suffered from a large contusion just below her right knee.

“Right now it’s difficult for her to walk on,” Horvat said. “If she takes good care of it there’s a good chance she’ll be available this weekend.”

Without their top two keepers, the lack of offense seemed to be too much for the Huskies as they were outshot this weekend 59-17; only eight of which were on goal.

“We misrepresented ourselves and the university this weekend,” Horvat said. “Now we’ve lost another key player. We have to hold ourselves accountable and take responsibility for where we are. If we don’t recover quickly and make a commitment to each other as a team, we’re going to be in trouble.”

The Huskies have this week to think about the losses, as they take the field next Friday when they visit Eastern Michigan for a 3 p.m. contest.

The road trip will continue Sunday when Central Michigan hosts the Huskies.