Akron zips by Huskies to end NIU’s Homecoming weekend
Freshman forward Madison Looby escorts the ball while keeping it away from an Akron defender in Sunday’s match between the Huskies and the Zips (Sean Reed | Northern Star)
DeKALB – The NIU women’s soccer team (5-5-3, 2-3-1 MAC) fell to the University of Akron (2-7-2, 1-5-0 MAC) in a 1-3 loss on Sunday.
The Huskies went into halftime trailing 2-0 after back-to-back goals were scored by Akron. The first goal came within the 29th minute and was scored by sophomore midfielder Ella Hadley. This was the first of two goals Hadley scored in Sunday’s game.
The next goal was scored less than 10 minutes later in the 37th minute by freshman forward Kristina Syragakis. The goal was scored off of a free kick that ricocheted off senior goalkeeper Sadie McGill’s hand and into Akron’s possession. Syragakis took advantage of the mishandled ball and scored the goal.
NIU’s season leading scorer, junior midfielder Claudia Muessig, came out of the game around the 20 minute mark and did not make an appearance again until the beginning of the second half. Muessig leads the Huskies with four goals scored this season. Muessig was sat for freshman forward Amber Best.
“She (Muessig) had a bit of a sluggish start,” head coach Michael O’Neill said. “We didn’t have the threat to move forward, so we just changed things up.”
“Amber’s (Best) a different player, and we hoped that she would change things for us,” O’Neill said. “So, it was more of a ‘how can we impact the team and give us a different dimension.’”
The lone goal for the Huskies was scored in the first four minutes of the second half by senior midfielder Abby McHugh.
“I think the first five minutes were crucial to set the tone for the second half, to show that we’re not giving up,” McHugh said. “There were a lot of opportunities in the first half where the ball was just sitting right in front of the goal, so my intentions going into the second half was to crash the box.”
Following McHugh’s goal the Huskies conceded another goal to Hadley with 16 minutes remaining in the game.
The Huskies haven’t defeated Akron since 2017 when they visited Akron and took a 2-1 victory.
This win markes Akron’s second win of the season, following a seven-game losing streak.
The Huskies will continue their Mid-American Conference play at 6 p.m. Thursday when they visit the University at Buffalo at the UB Stadium in Buffalo, New York. There will be nowhere to watch the game or view live statistics.
