DeKALB — Junior midfielder McKayla Kertscher scored three goals in nine minutes for the University of Green Bay, resulting in a 3-1 win over the Huskies on Thursday. 

Sophomore midfielder Claudia Muessing scored for the Huskies, notching her second goal of the season. 

Green Bay came out aggressive and early on the attack to start the game. Kertscher, along with junior forward Emily Murphy, posed a real threat for the Huskies as they forced up shots and created for their teammates early and often. 

“We didn’t deliver on the small details that we know help us play well, and we got punished for it. We didn’t play how we are capable of in any way, which is super disappointing coming off of a good win,”  head coach Julie Colhoff said in a Sept. 7 NIU Athletics news release. 

NIU was very sloppy with their passing in the first half, allowing Green Bay to anticipate a lot of their passes, leading to open field opportunities at the other end. In the 37th minute, Muessing was able to score a free kick to get the Huskies on the board. 

Closing out the first half, Kertscher had three goals, along with Murphy having two assists. Green Bay had nine shot attempts, and if not for the goalkeeping of junior goalkeeper Sadie McGill a lot of those attempts would have reached the back of the net. 

The Huskies came out in the second half with more fire. Graduate student forward Haley Hoppe, freshman midfielder Edith Delgado and sophomore forward Kiera Meier all tried to give the team life to rally back in the contest and spark a comeback with physical, tenacious play. 

Senior goalkeeper Julia Lentz replaced junior Sadie McGill and was able to allow no goals and gave the Huskies a strong backline defense. Despite the Huskies rallying and fighting to get back in the contest, they would not be able to cut the deficit. 

“The lesson that has to come out of this is that we are not a team that can show up and flip a switch,” Colhoff said. “We have to be very intentional, day in and day out, gameday and practice, about implementing the details that we work on. When we do those things, we are a very good team and we can compete with anybody and win games.” 

The Huskies will return home at 2 p.m. Sunday to face the Illinois State Redbirds in their first home game of September.