City bragging rights belong to Illinois-Chicago this season.

Beating the Northwestern men’s soccer team (5-8, 0-3 Big Ten) in Chicago on Wednesday, the Flames (6-6-2) sent the Wildcats to their second straight loss in a match that was essentially a tale of two halves.

Attack-heavy Illinois-Chicago, the polar opposite of its crosstown rival, pounded NU in the first half, scoring three goals — two of which came within a five-minute span.

“It was a case where we just came out flat,” NU coach Tim Lenahan said. “We got our butts whipped in the first half. Collectively, we played poorly.”

Lenahan said the Cats, with their mostly rookie squad, had trouble preparing for the midweek game after a 1-0 loss to No. 4 Indiana on Sunday.

The Flames struck early, getting on the board in the 14th minute off a header from midfielder Dennis King.

And before the Cats had a chance to regroup, Illinois-Chicago scored again, five minutes later, on Sinisa Ubiparipovic’s low liner into the bottom left corner .

Ubiparipovic beat the NU defense again in the 34th minute, earning an assist on a long cross to Roberto Gallo for the Flames’ third goal.

NU goalkeeper J.D. Martin made two saves in what would be his only half of the game. It was his shortest outing of the season.

“Sometimes you can weather the storm,” Martin said. “But we couldn’t. We gave up three goals before we could regroup.”

The Cats got their act together in the second half, outplaying Illinois-Chicago and effectively controlling the pace of the game.

“After the half, we played like a team with nothing to lose,” Lenahan said. “We threw the kitchen sink at them and managed to get one back. But we’re not the kind of team that can dig out of that hole.”

NU doubled its shot total from the first half, but was stymied for the most part by freshman goalkeeper Ross Cain, who notched four saves. The Cats were able to get on the board in the 79th minute when senior defender Justin Lesch banged in a header. The goal was the first of Lesch’s career.

Lenahan said he was pleased with the solid play of senior Dave DeHorn and Lesch, both of whom came off the bench.

“They’re not playing like it’s a midweek game,” Lenahan said. “They’re playing like there’s six or seven games left in their careers. There’s a more of a sense of of urgency.”

But the Cats offense proved to be too little too late, as the Flames hung onto their 3-1 lead.

Defensively, the Cats recovered from a poor first half, playing shutout ball in front of freshman goalkeeper Brian Heckenbach.

“He did a great job,” Lenahan said of the rookie. “We were thinking about the future and about getting him some experience right now.”

NU returns home this weekend, opening a three-game homestand on Sunday against Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne.