Oct. 17, 2010

Box Score

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich.- Despite a strong showing from the Northern Illinois women's soccer team, the Huskies were unable to score on a tough Central Michigan defense as NIU fell 3-0 to the Chippewas, who are undefeated in conference play, on the road Sunday afternoon.

In the opening half, NIU was able to fire off three shot attempts, two on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net against Central Michigan. NIU freshman Amy Carr fought off multiple shots from the Chippewas to record four saves in the half, but the Huskies (7-7-1, 3-4-1 MAC) fell to an early 2-0 deficit after CMU (11-3-1, 8-0-0 MAC) scored two early goals.

The Huskies would not give up against defending Mid-American Conference Champions, as NIU came out of the half-time break stronger than at the start. The NIU defense fought off a solid CMU offensive attack in the half, as Carr recorded seven saves in the half. Despite the effort CMU was able to find the net one last time when Central Michigan's Jennifer Gassman snuck the ball past Carr to give the Chippewas a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish.

"Central Michigan is extremely dangerous on set pieces," said Barker. "We knew we couldn't give up any set pieces and, unfortunately, we did and they led to goals. I think our girls played extremely hard, especially in the second half."

Carr totaled a season-high 11 saves in the contest, while five Huskies fired shots on the attack, four with shots on goal. NIU's Shelbi Johnson, Lauren Solomon, Annie Wyer and Corinne Frankenberg each notched shots on goal, while Corinne Frankenberg also tallied a shot for the Huskies in the contest.

After a four-game road swing NIU will return home next weekend when the Huskies host Miami (Ohio) on Friday and Bowling Green on Sunday at the NIU Soccer Complex. Following the weekend's contest, NIU will wrap its regular season on the road when the Huskies take on Western Michigan on Thursday, Oct. 28.