Being held scoreless for the second game in a row, NIU women’s soccer (1-2-1) fell in a decisive 4-0 loss against the University of Minnesota Gophers (2-1).
“A very frustrating result,” said NIU women’s soccer head coach Michael O’Neill. “(We) played a good team in Minnesota, of course, but I think a bit more frustration in the game relative to our start. I thought the first 20 minutes we came out and were on the front foot, organized defensively and if it wasn’t for the width of a post, we could have been 1-0 in the first five minutes.”
The Huskies showed promise to start the game, with sophomore midfielder Lauren Mrugala taking the first shot of the day from either team. Her second-minute shot, which bounced off the left post, was the only shot taken for NIU in the game.
In the 27th minute, NIU graduate student goalkeeper Morgan Lucich was subbed off due to injury. The University of California Santa Barbara transfer recorded shutouts in her last two appearances, holding both DePaul University and the University of St. Thomas scoreless.
With Lucich’s departure, senior Amy Stineman stepped into goal for the Huskies, recording 4 saves and allowing 4 goals in the remaining 64 minutes of play.
“I think Morgan (Luchich) getting injured, that stoppage for a number of minutes, it just went flat after that for whatever reason,” O’Neill said. “We conceded a goal 30 seconds to a minute after that substitution was made, and then we never really got back into it after the first goal, which was a shame because I thought momentum was actually on our side, frustrating them and doing some good things.”
Scoring for the Gophers started just 30 seconds after the goalkeeper change for NIU, when graduate student forward Mariah Nguyen found the lower left side of the goal to put Minnesota on top.
Nguyen continued the scoring for Minnesota, sending the ball into the high center of the goal in the 38th minute to double the lead for the host team.
On the eighth shot of the second half for Minnesota, freshman forward/midfielder Sawyer Danielson netted the ball for a 3-0 lead for the Gophers.
Rounding out the scoring in the 74th minute, sophomore forward Davy Mokelke put the cherry on top of the win for Minnesota with a goal to the center of the goal.
With the shutout, the Huskies have scored 1 goal in their four games played, coming from junior forward Tyra King in the win against DePaul.
The Huskies have been missing King, who did not play in the last match against St. Thomas, and was limited in her minutes against the Gophers.
King was named to the United Coaches Division I forwards to watch list earlier this month, and led the team with 8 goals and 5 assists in her 2024 campaign.
“She’s a big loss,” O’Neill said of King. “We’re actually getting into some good areas and there’s weird things from an attacking standpoint. Especially again, those first 20 to 30 minutes, getting over the line maybe from a mentality standpoint. It’s one thing getting good opportunities but another thing to have the composure and poise to take a chance. We’ll keep working on that in the practice field and see where we are, but it’s (the offensive struggles) are something that we’re wary of and want to improve.
The Huskies return home at 1 p.m. Sunday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex to take on Eastern Illinois University. Live stats will be updated on SIDEARM Sports.
