DeKALB — The women’s soccer team defeated the Chicago State University Cougars in dominant fashion with a 4-1 final Thursday afternoon.

NIU’s four goals over 19 shots matched the most goals scored in a game by a Huskies team since head coach Julie Colhoff took over the program. Even with the landslide victory, Colhoff said she’s balancing the success with finding ways to improve.

“I think it’s a great step forward for us to put two good games back-to-back and get the win,” Colhoff said. “A glaring thing we definitely need to work on is tightening up our defense after we put that goal in the back of the net, at least the first one. I think there’s a lot of great things we can build off of but some other things we can fine-tune too.”

The Huskies could have blown the lead out of proportion further with several scoring opportunities in the second half, getting off nine shots on the Cougars. Colhoff said now the ability to create chances needs to start translating to more scoring.

“It’s great to be able to create those opportunities; that’s always the first step,” Colhoff said. “That’s growth for us from past seasons, but now it’s about burying the ball in the back of the net when we get those shots.”

Graduate student forward Haley Hoppe scored in the 11th minute with an assist from Kierah Meier. The score was Hoppe’s third of the year, all assisted by Meier.

In the 13th minute, a foul by Edith Delgado gave Chicago State a penalty kick. Cougars senior forward Sara Quevedo’s shot scored to even the game at 1-1.

NIU took advantage back just before the halftime break. Sophomore midfielder Claudia Muessig put a shot just out of the reach of Cougars freshman goalkeeper Alexa Seiler to make it 2-1 in the 43rd minute. The goal was the first of Muessig’s college career, who said the team’s comfort level with the ball was high throughout the day.

“Being able to possess the ball and find the back of the net is always exciting,” Muessig said. “When we were able to connect passes and find our feet, we were playing very well and getting opportunities, and that’s really exciting.”

The Huskies quickly grew their lead in the second half. Hoppe assisted on a goal from redshirt senior midfielder Amanda Czerniak in the 48th minute.

NIU put the exclamation point on their victory with a penalty kick goal from Julia Nealy in the 72nd minute. The Huskies kept the Cougars to one shot for the remainder of the match to lock a 4-1 win.

NIU rides a 2-1 record to their final game of a home stretch. The Huskies host the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels at 2 p.m. Sunday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.