NIU 1, Eastern Michigan 1 Box Score 

YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team stretched its unbeaten run to three games on Sunday afternoon following a 1-1 draw at Eastern Michigan in Mid-American Conference play.

The Huskies (3-12-2, 2-6-2 MAC) and Eagles (5-10-3, 2-6-2) entered Sunday’s contest at Scicluna Field level on points and just outside of the all-important top eight positions in the MAC that secure qualification to the conference tournament next weekend. And there was nothing to separate the two sides on Sunday as both teams earned a point that keeps NIU and Eastern Michigan alive in the race for the postseason ahead of Thursday’s final day of the MAC regular season.

Nicole Gobbo (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) gave the Huskies an early lead in the fifth minute by scoring her fifth goal of the season and the 16th of her career. But the Eagles benefitted from a fortunate bounce that resulted in a goal by Kristin Nason just 20 seconds before halftime, and the two teams played out a second half and two 10-minute overtime periods without finding a decisive goal.

NIU women’s soccer head coach John Ross thought it was a deserved result for both teams in a hard-fought match between two teams fighting to keep their season alive.

“It was a tough game today. Like us, they’re better than their record, so it was a dog-fight game between two teams that needed a good result,” Ross said after the game. “We created some good chances and got the lead early, but it was tough to concede just seconds before the half. I was happy with how the team responded after that, and we could’ve won it. We’ll take the point, we’re happy to still be in contention for the postseason and we’re on to the next one.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) made 13 saves over the match’s 110 minutes for the Huskies, who were out-shot 24-15 overall with the Eagles owning a 14-5 advantage in shots on target in an entertaining end-to-end contest.

The Huskies will enter the last match of the regular season needing a victory and help to secure MAC Tournament qualification. NIU will host MAC title-chasing Western Michigan on Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the NIU Soccer Complex in DeKalb. Admission is FREE for all fans.

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