Oct. 20, 2006

Box Score

DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois' women's soccer team held its own against MAC leader Ball State, but ended up on the short end of a 1-0 outcome.

"Our second half performance was tremendous," said head coach Marci Miller. "We came out a bit tentative a the start of the game and maybe a little intimidated. After the first 20 minutes, we played hard and really challenged them and did a great job with making things difficult for Ball State."

BSU's Sarah Leibel scored the game's first goal unassisted at 16:36 and goalkeeper Rachael Murphy stopped all four Huskie shots on goal.

Karen Enockson paced NIU with three shots and Lindsey Curnock made two stops in goal for the Huskies.

"I was proud of our second half effort," Miller said. "Megan Kolkay and Micaela Damas played with a ton of heart and fight. Today was another step in getting better as a team and gaining more experience."

The loss drops NIU to 3-6 in the MAC and 4-10-2 overall and ends its three-match Friday win streak. BSU improved its league-best mark to 6-3-2 and 11-3-2 for the year.

NIU returns to action Sunday, hosting Miami University at Noon in the season's final home weekend match.