DeKALB – The Huskies faced off against Northwestern University Wednesday evening that ended with the Wildcats winning 3-1. 

NIU head coach Ryan Swan spoke on how he felt his team put out a lackluster performance.

“I thought it was an embarrassing performance,” Swan said. “The decision was terrible on the ball, we were giving the ball away, we just had too many breakdowns.” 

Swan also spoke about the opportunities the team failed to capitalize on. 

“In the first half we had a couple of opportunities, we hit the bar three times, but there was poor technique in the final third, those should have been a goal,” Swan said.

It was a rough first half due to rainy and windy conditions that both teams battled through. There were a total of 10 fouls in the first half, six by the Wildcats and four by the Huskies. The Huskies had several opportunities to score as well hitting the crossbar three times while taking shots at the net. 

The first half ended scoreless. NIU got off seven shots and the Wildcats had four. 

NIU ended the scoreless match with a goal in the 52nd minute that was scored by junior midfielder Camilo Estrada and assisted by junior forward Kevin Galiano. It was initially saved by the Wildcats first-year goalkeeper Paul Walters on a shot from Galiano but Estrada kicked it in off the rebound. 

The Wildcats scored three unanswered goals from there to come out with the 3-1 victory. The first goal was scored by graduate student defender Ethan Dudley in the 63rd minute off a free kick that ricocheted off the Huskies redshirt senior goalkeeper Martin Sanchez. 

The second was by Wildcats graduate student midfielder Bardia Kimiavi in the 72nd minute off a Huskie turnover that allowed him to get behind the Huskies defense to get a great shot off that got past Sanchez and into the net.

The third was by first-year midfielder Jason Gajadhar in the 82nd minute assisted by senior midfielder Eric Smits after Smits sent a pass to Gajadhar from the edge of the box right in the area of Gajadhar who fired a shot into the back of the net. This stretch led to the Wildcats victory of 3-1.

The Huskies’ next game is at home against Chicago State University at 7 p.m. Monday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex. It can be watched through NIU All-Access and live stats can be found at SIDEARM Sports.