NIU women’s soccer (6-4-3, 0-3-2 MAC) was defeated on the road 2-1 against the Bowling Green State University Falcons (6-3-2, 3-1-1 MAC).
“With the result, you know, we obviously worked all week to try and get back to winning ways. So, a difficult way to be leaving Ohio,” said NIU women’s soccer head coach Michael O’Neill. “But in terms of it – the run of the game – I felt like we started actually really well. First 20-25 minutes were on the front foot and created some really good chances, and maybe not chances on goal, but really good areas, but, maybe, lacked a little bit of quality and composure to capitalize in those moments.”
Today’s game keeps the Huskies winless in the first half of conference games with two draws, and three losses.
“It’s taking accountability in these moments and not shying away from from hard work, and we had a week to kind of reset with Sunday’s to Saturday’s game, but we kind of had that same feeling after the game, that those moments – the big moments in the game – are going against us, and whilst there’s bad luck, a lot of it we’re in control of,” O’Neill said.
The first half of the game remained scoreless, until the 43rd minute when Falcons sophomore forward Emma Stransky opened up the scoring after assists from Falcons senior midfielder Jaden Frigerio and graduate student defender Lexi Czerwien.
The lead for the Falcons didn’t last long as the Huskies would equalize in the last 10 seconds of the half after a goal from sophomore midfielder Isabel Struble.
The Falcons didn’t have to wait long to regain the lead as five minutes into the second half Czerwien would tap it in to get the Falcons second goal of the game.
Both of the Falcons goals came from miscommunication errors from the Huskies backline.
“Our backline, and goalkeeper, has been great for us this year,” O”Neill said. “When there’s uncertainty these things are magnified. You can see goals, you know, those things are under the motion more, so I would agree that it’s going to be holding themselves accountable, making sure that communication line and from those moments the next game is improved upon.
The Huskies out shot the Falcons in shots on target 8-7, but only one of those shots ended up in the back of the net.
“When you’re creating chances, it kind of gives you that false hope of, ‘this is going to be close, this is our time,’ and those moments aren’t dropping for us right now,” O’Neill said. “So, we’ll continue to create great chances and build off that, but unfortunately, it’s between the ears again and then their mindsets in those moments that can have a little bit of quality.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies return at 1 p.m. Thursday to face the Kent State University Golden Flashes at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex in DeKalb. Live streaming will be available on NIU All-Access and live stats will be provided by SIDEARM Stats
