DeKALB, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's soccer team saw their season come to an end with a 3-0 loss to Northern Illinois in the first round of the NCAA College Cup on Thursday afternoon (Nov. 17). 

Western ends the 2011 season 13-7-1, having qualified for its fifth College Cup since 2004. The Leathernecks, entering the game having won seven of their last eight, dropped to 7-5-1 against teams outside the Summit League and it was just the second non-conference loss by more than a goal. 

"Hats off to Northern Illinois," said Western head coach Dr. Eric Johnson. "They stuck to their game plan and were very effective on restarts. We really struggled with their size on corner kicks and free kicks. (NIU Head Coach) Eric Luzzi did a great job preparing his team." 

The Huskies (15-5) got on the board in the 20th minute when Sean Totsch scored from inside six yards. Right before halftime Isaac Kannah scored from the center box making it 2-0. 

"The first goal really hurt us," said Johnson. "We needed to get to the second half at least tied but that did not happen today. NIU's service from the corners was very accurate and their players know their roles. The third goal was an example of that, the guy was standing right where he was supposed to and we were caught watching. They had really effective service and disciplined positioning. They also have great size." 

The Leathernecks took three shots in the opening minutes of the second half but came away empty. The Summit League regular season and tournament champions were limited to only one shot on goal, delivered by Daniel Lewis in the 84th minute. Northern finished off the scoring in the 73rd minute on a goal by Mike Mascitti. 

"We gave up a few inches man-to-man.  They were extremely effective on the restarts. We were way better in the second half but again, we didn't find the net. We had a couple chances early to make it to 2-1 but we could not capitalize," said Johnson.