DeKALB — Dropping its second consecutive Mid-American Conference game, NIU women’s soccer (4-7-3, 2-4-2 MAC) fell in a 1-0 loss to Bowling Green State University (8-1-6, 3-0-5) as the Falcons add to a 12-game unbeaten streak.
With the loss, NIU dropped to ninth place in MAC standings, and has now lost its last four matches against Bowling Green.
“You cannot fault the effort and the endeavor, “ said NIU women’s soccer head coach Michael O’Neill. “Eleven players, 10 players, they work their socks off and they put pressure on them, denying them, creating many chances. For whatever reason, we cannot score goals. It’s been a consistent theme this season. The final product is just not there. The frustrating thing is, if we weren’t good enough and we weren’t working hard and doing all the other things, we’d rebuild and go again. But I think we;re right there, and it’s the most important part of the game that we’re struggling with.”
The Huskies started the game on the back foot, being outshot 5-3 in the opening 45. Despite holding just 37% of possession in the first half, NIU matched the number of shots on goal created by the Falcons with two.
The best chances for the Huskies came in the 63rd and 64th minutes, when sophomore midfielder Lauren Mrugala took a shot on target, followed quickly by two shots from junior forward Tyra King that just missed the net.
“I just think we didn’t finish our chances when we had the opportunities,” King said. “This game wasn’t a chance of no opportunities, we had multiple opportunities and we just didn’t capitalize.”
Minutes after a sliding block to keep the Falcons out of the net, senior defender Aubrey Robertson was awarded her second yellow card, and a subsequent red card, putting the Huskies down a player for the remainder of the match.
“It came at a tough point,” O’Neill said of the red card. ‘We were on the ascendancy from a momentum standpoint, and then a transition moment and Aubrey obviously gets the second yellow card. We wanted to try and keep the attack in shape somewhat, we felt like we had a good defensive setup. Obviously we lost a player, so it was just where do we lose that player?”
The Falcons broke the stalemate in the 81st minute when junior forward Emma Stransky sent the ball past NIU sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Pearson to score what became the gamewinner for the Falcons.
The Huskies ended the game outshooting Bowling Green 13(6)-9(4), with King and sophomore Alyssa Stephenson leading the team with 4 shots each. King also led the team in shots on goal with 2.
Falcons sophomore goalkeeper Payton O’Malley recorded 6 saves against the Huskies, just one shy of the season high, while Pearson made 3 saves while allowing the goal.
“I’m not trying to pass the buck here, because my job is to coach the team,” O’Neill said. “But putting the ball in the back of the net is an individual trait and it’s going to take individual mindsets and skill sets. We can get them so far, but it goes to them to take that final step. We’ve got three games left and we’re up against it in terms of postseason play, especially with Bowling Green getting three points tonight, but we’re going to finish what we started this season.”
UP NEXT
The Huskies return to action on the road at noon Sunday in Athens, Ohio against the Ohio University Bobcats. The match will be streamed on Youtube and live stats will be available on StatBroadcast.
