MUNCIE, Ind. – The NIU women's soccer team (7-5-1, 4-2 MAC) won their second-straight match in overtime as they defeated Ball State (6-6-2, 4-1-1 MAC) 3-2 Sunday afternoon. Sophomore
Kyleigh Dominguez (Geneva, Ill./Cincinnati) scored the game winner for the Huskies in the 94
th minute as she was able to slide the ball behind the Ball State keeper for the win.
"As a soccer team, you have to find ways to win and it's hard to win games in the MAC," Head Coach
John Ross said. "Overall, we played really well minus the first 19 minutes of the game but then we got angry and took it back at them."
The Huskies trailed twice in the game when Ball State scored in the 8
th minute to take a 1-0 lead and in the 19
th minute to take a 2-1 lead. Ball State had the lead in goals but also seemed to control the play at halftime taking seven shots to NIU's only one shot.
NIU got their first goal of the game from
Sammy O'Brien (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) on her first goal of the season. O'Brien was able to get a pass from
Natalie Yass (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) that sent her on a breakaway where she beat the Ball State keeper one-on-one. She also got her first start since the second game of the year as the Huskies are dealing with some injuries to some of their attacking players.
"Sammy has been doing the same thing for us no matter what her role has been," Ross said. "That's the type of effort we get from her and that effort along with her work rate is what allowed her to get that goal."
NIU leading scorer
Lauren Gierman (Prospect Heights, Ill./John Hersey) got the goal that sent the game into overtime in the 87
th minute. Gierman scored on a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box after Ball State committed back-to-back fouls to give the Huskies the free kick opportunity.
A potential momentum changing lineup decision from Ross and the NIU staff was to insert freshman goalkeeper
Megan Donnally (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) in the 27
th minute for senior
Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego). Donnally was only forced to make one save but it came at a crucial moment in the 2
nd minute of overtime before the Huskies scored the game winner.
With the Huskies coming from behind to win their second-straight game that went into overtime, a mentality of being able to win in different ways is growing amongst the NIU players and staff.
"When you find different ways to win you can reflect on that at a later date and draw from that," Ross said. "We've used other games this season, especially from our non-conference, to help us win games in MAC play."
NIU women's soccer will return to DeKalb to play two-straight home matches next Friday and Sunday against Kent State and Ohio. Sunday's match against Ohio will be Senior Day for the team to honor its seniors with a pregame ceremony.
