TUCSAN, Ariz. – The Northern Illinois women's soccer (1-4-1) team took on Arizona State (4-2-1) in its second match of the weekend, Sunday afternoon. The Huskies came up short in the 3-0 loss.

"It was a rough game for us," said head coach John Ross. "We needed to just be more confident in our play. It was a struggle from the get-go. At times it got better but it was tough for us."

The Huskies scored an own goal to earn the Sun Devils theirfirst goal in the seventh minute of play. Arizona State's second goal came in the twentieth minute on a shot that was saved by goalkeeper Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) and the rebound was kicked in by Sun Devil's Aly Moon. 

"I thought Amy Annala did outstanding today," said Coach Ross. "She kept us organized. At times she came up with some big saves. She controlled the penalty box. We just needed to have a better effort as a team."

Annala finished the match with 11 saves in goal for the Huskies.

The Sun Devils' third scoring opportunity of the day came from a penalty kick after a foul from the Huskies. Jazmarie Maderconverted the penalty in the 64th minute for Arizona State. 

The Huskies had six shots for the day with five shots on goal. The effort was not lacking from the team as implied.
a whole.

"On the weekend, there were some really good things with improvements that we made," said coach Ross. "It was a little tougher to fight through today."

The Huskies next match is at home against Illinois state on Sunday, Sept. 18 at 2 p.m. at the NIU Soccer Complex.

-NIU-