MOUNT PLESANT, Mich. – The NIU women's soccer team (8-7-1, 5-4 MAC) fell to Central Michigan 1-0 Thursday night as the Chippewas scored the go-ahead goal in the 85^th minute. NIU goalkeeper Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) made five saves on the night but the CMU goal was scored on a well placed shot by Madison Pogarch.
 
"Amy has been playing well and had a good game tonight despite the loss," Head Coach John Ross said. The goal was just a really good shot from Pogarch. We're in a good place with our goalies giving up only two goals in the last three games."
 
NIU came close on to grabbing a 1-0 lead on one of their corner kicks as the familiar combination of Lauren Gierman (Prospect Heights, Ill./John Hersey) to Haley Hoppe (Austin, Texas/Rouse) had a chance off of a header right around the 60-minute mark but a CMU defender was able to clear it away before it crossed the line.
 
Play seemed to stay in the Huskies' defensive half of the field as Central Michigan outshot NIU 10-7 and took four corner kicks in each half with the Huskies only totaling four corner kicks all game.
 
"We were a little off and they had a lot to play for," Ross said. "They were letting us come all the way up and looking to counter and we fell into that. For the most part we needed to be a little more patient with where we were trying to attack."
 
On a tough day for NIU forwards to get shots off, Kate Sanfilippo (Florissant, Mo./Marquette Catholic) led the way for the Huskies in shots with three in 33 minutes off the bench. The NIU depth was given a bit of a boost as sophomore Abby Gregg (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East) returned to action for his first minutes since Oct. 1 playing 18 minutes off the bench.
 
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Huskies are sitting in fourth place in the Mid-American Conference standings with 15 points. Bowling Green moved to sole possession of third place at 16 points with a tie at Ohio, Toledo and Ohio are a point behind the Huskies with 14 tied for fifth place and Buffalo has 13 points in seventh place.
 
The Huskies will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. to take on Eastern Michigan at 12:00 CT before the regular season finale on Thurs. Oct. 26. With a win on Sunday, NIU will lock in their spot in the MAC tournament for the second-straight season.