Each time Anne Roman took the field for the women’s soccer team last season, a part of her was missing. This spring, the freshman midfielder got it back.

Playing only in spurts, Roman had lacked the endurance that the rest of the team had. Originally, she thought her struggles came from asthma.

“If I started running, I couldn’t really breathe,” she said. “My legs would just die.”

But at a checkup last winter, Roman found the real source of the problem: anemia. She started taking iron supplements, and they seem to have revitalized the DeKalb native, who last fall couldn’t make the necessary sprints to keep up at the Division I level.

“[The anemia] really prevented us from using her like we would really liked to,” NIU coach Frank Horvat said.

This spring, Roman once beat the entire University of Chicago defense, scoring an unassisted goal in the first 15 seconds of a 4-1 win.

“Now she was able to show her speed and determination and be an impact player,” Horvat said. “That made a huge difference.”

The spring season, in which NIU has gone 8-5-1, has been a breakthrough for Roman and the rest of the Huskies, as NIU looks to improve on a 4-14-1 record from last fall.

“I’m excited,” Roman said. “I think we did a lot better (in the spring) than last year, so I think it was just an overall improvement.”

A major reason for the Huskies’ excitement has been NIU’s improved offensive production. In addition to Roman’s efforts, the Huskies have seen solid play up front from freshman Katie Klaas and junior Becca Bleyer. Senior center midfielder Jane Mucci also makes NIU’s attack more dangerous with her versatility as a passer and goal scorer. All four players have displayed NIU’s newfound firepower.

Mucci scored the game-winner in a 2-1 thriller over the St. Paul (Minn.) Blackhawks, a club soccer team loaded with Division I prospects. The Huskies also announced the signing of defenders Jamie Figure and Cheryl Newman. Figure competes for Wheaton-Warrenville South High School, currently the No. 1-ranked prep program in the state, while Newman plays for Neuqua Valley.

“They’re both capable of contributing,” Horvat said.

In addition to the win over St. Paul last weekend, NIU also downed DePaul 4-1 and tied Western Illinois 2-2. Two weeks ago, NIU hung tough in an indoor rematch of last fall’s season finale against Wisconsin before losing 4-2.

To answer the Huskies’ defensive woes last fall, during which the team gave up a school record 77 goals, the Huskies have been working more on possessing and shielding the ball. Horvat believes the foundation for success has been set in place, but the rest will be up to the players.

“We ended on a good note,” he said. “Now the key is to look at it as a beginning and continue to work on those specific aspects & individually, what each player needs to do to be ready in August. The experience that all the players got, especially the freshmen, is definitely going to be a positive thing for us.”

And so will a healthy Anne Roman.