Box Score

DeKALB, Ill. – In the span of 10 minutes on Friday night, Lauren Gierman of the Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team scored two miraculous goals on free kicks from near midfield to lift the Huskies to a 2-0 victory over Toledo in the Mid-American Conference opener.

After 60 minutes of hard-fought but scoreless soccer at the NIU Soccer Complex in DeKalb, it was Gierman (Prospect Heights, Ill./John Hersey) who produced a moment of magic to break the deadlock when her free kick from about 50 yards looped into the Toledo box and bounced into the net to give the Huskies the lead.

Then just 10 minutes later, Gierman did it again. NIU won another free kick near the center circle. This time, the sophomore midfielder didn’t need the luck of the bounce as she blasted her strike from roughly 50 yards directly over Toledo goalkeeper Sam Tiongson and into the roof of the net.

“It was awesome,” said Gierman, who celebrated her second goal by simply shrugging in disbelief. “It was great to get the team started. The first goal gave us momentum, and the second one just put the game away, which was good.”

For Gierman, it was her second career two-goal game after she had achieved the feat, coincidentally, in NIU’s MAC opener last season as well in helping the Huskies defeat Central Michigan 2-1 on Sept. 26, 2014.

After witnessing two of the longest goals in NIU women’s soccer program history, head coach John Ross said he wasn’t surprised because he’d seen Gierman score goals from that distance while recruiting her in high school.

“We were working so hard, and once she hit that first ball and put it in the mix, I knew it was going to be trouble. We were making dangerous runs, and it went in,” Ross said. “Basically the same thing happened right after. Our energy level was so high after the first goal, and the second goal made it go even higher.”

Ross was also pleased with the fact that the Huskies (2-6-0, 1-0-0 MAC) earned their first clean sheet of the season defensively by shutting out the Rockets (5-5-0, 0-1-0 MAC) with freshman goalkeeper MacKenzie Lee (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) making four saves to earn her first career shutout and victory.

On a night when NIU women’s soccer had by far its largest home crowd of the season thanks to a charity food drive youth soccer tournament before the game, the fans in attendance saw the Huskies earn their first home win against Toledo since 2003.

The Rockets had the better of the first half, outshooting the Huskies 4-1. But NIU never looked in real danger of conceding a goal in a cagey affair throughout the first 45 minutes.

The Huskies then immediately began the second half on the front foot. NIU could’ve had a penalty when the referee called a handball against a Toledo defender but ruled the foul occurred inches outside the box. Then Nicole Gobbo (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) found some space down the right wing and nearly set up a teammate, but the Rockets just managed to clear the ball.

But that spell of play just increased the anticipation before Gierman galvanized the home fans with her two goals from a range totaling about 100 yards in the span of 10 minutes that will go down in NIU women’s soccer folklore.

With their first two-goal lead at any point this season, the Huskies held on for the final 20 minutes as the Rockets rallied to try and cut into the NIU advantage. But Lee’s goalkeeping and the stingy defense of the Huskies’ re-organized back line, highlighted by great play by defenders Alex Elias (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek), Jess Wooldridge (Des Moines, Iowa/Des Moines) and Kate Wirthlin (Mequon, Wis./Homestead), held out and clinched the 2-0 triumph.

With three points in Mid-American Conference play secured, the Huskies will hope to earn another home victory in the conference on Sunday afternoon when NIU welcomes Central Michigan to DeKalb for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Admission is FREE to all fans!

--NIU--