NIU women’s soccer (7-4-4, 1-3-3 MAC) earned its third draw in conference play with a 2-2 tie against the University of Akron Zips (5-5-4, 0-5-2 MAC), after holding the lead for a majority of the second half.
“Obviously upset and frustrated with the last minute goal to concede a tie,” said NIU women’s soccer head coach Michael O’Neill. “It would have been great to get a win. A little bit of a sour grape from that standpoint, just in the nature of how it ended. In terms of the overall game, I thought we actually started quite slow and quite flat. Akron went up early deservedly. Fortunately we got that goal in the last kick of the first half, which gave us momentum. We started the second half with more energy and more engaged. The girls worked hard, but it definitely could have improved in certain areas and quality.”
The Zips went up early, scoring in the 11th minute when redshirt senior defender Katie Stafford found the upper left of the goal.
Despite creating 10 shots in the first half, it took the Huskies until the final seconds of the first half to find the back of the net. Junior forward Sophia White redirected a blocked shot from junior defender Jordyn Saddler, sending the ball into the lower right side of the goal.
The Huskies struck again after the halftime break, scoring in the 48th minute. Sophomore forward Tyra King scored, taking advantage of a Zips turnover at the top of the box and sending the ball soaring into the top of the goal.
The Huskies maintained the 2-1 lead until the 89th minute. After a foul in the box awarded the Zips a penalty kick, Stafford found her second of the day to level the score.
King created 7 shots, four of which were on goal, in addition to the goal.
“She’ll be a threat every day,” said O’Neill. “She could have had a couple more honestly, and that’s just the coach in me that challenges her every day. She’ll be frustrated with herself. She’s a threat, she works hard, and she’s a fantastic asset for us. She’ll continue to be that way for the rest of the season.”
NIU created 19 shots in the match, with nine on goal. The Zips recorded 15 shots, with 6 shots on goal.
Graduate student goalkeeper Ary Purifoy recorded 4 saves for NIU, while Akron sophomore goalkeeper Sara Bower saved 7 of the Huskies’ shots.
O’Neill looks forward to the next match, and what he wants the team to improve on.
“I think just continuing to work on the areas of the game, the 18- yard boxes, defending those balls in the box, and making sure we’re composed when we get those balls into the box,” O’Neill said. “Those are the areas where games are won or lost. Although no one lost it, it was definitely the final piece in the game with the last minute goal that they scored off a penalty kick.”
The Huskies return home at 1 p.m. Friday against Eastern Michigan University at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex in DeKalb. Live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Sports.
