NIU women’s soccer (4-1-1) bounced back from a 4-0 loss at the University of Notre Dame on Thursday to beat the Eastern Illinois University Panthers (2-4-2) in a dominant 3-0 shutout Sunday.
NIU women’s soccer head coach Michael O’Neill reflected on the victory.
“A lot of things went well today,” O’Neill said. “We defended really well. The backline was ready for the game and competed in every aspect, especially after we conceded 4 goals against Notre Dame on Thursday. That was something we were wanting to clean up today. Midfielders and forwards were enjoying themselves. They were playing with quality tempo and connecting with each other. A complete team game today.”
Eastern Illinois created its first shot in the third minute, its only shot until the 30th minute of the match. Panther sophomore forward Abby Reinl created the opportunity, and Huskie graduate student goalkeeper Ary Purifoy notched her first save.
The Huskies started the scoring in the 17th minute when sophomore forward Tyra King sent the ball into the lower left corner. Less than ten minutes later in the 25th minute, King connected with sophomore midfielder Isabel Struble, who scored the second goal for NIU.
The score remained 2-0 until the 70th minute, when King found the back of the net again. In addition to her 2 goals, King also created 4 shot opportunities for NIU.
“She’s just older and wiser,” O’Neill said of King. “She’s grown a lot since last year and she puts herself in position to score goals now. I would love to take credit for it, but it’s her hard work, her growth mentality, and how she feels in these situations. Another great performance today and two very well earned goals.”
In the 89th minute, the Huskies had a chance to add to the score when they were awarded a free kick. Freshman midfielder Mckenna Campbell-Turkalj’s shot was blocked by Panther redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ashlyn Hoover.
The Huskies outshot the Panther 19-5, and created 8 shots on goal. Purifoy recorded her third shutout of the season while recording 3 saves while NIU had 5 shots saved by Hoover.
“Today was a great foundation to build from,” O’Neill said. “Obviously the fourth win of the season is great, but in terms of just the complete performance. We’ll rest and recover tomorrow and then Tuesday and Wednesday look to get back to the same standards that we’ve set this year and prepare for Illinois State (University). In many ways, it’s more of the same and staying consistent with what we’ve been doing.”
The Huskies stay on the road at 7 p.m. Thursday when they face the Illinois State Cardinals at Adelaide Street Field in Normal. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and StatsBroadcast will have live stats.
