DEKALB, Ill. – A 74th minute penalty kick from Brooke Stonehouse was the only thing to separate the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team and Toledo on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 27) at the NIU Soccer Complex. 

"There were some really good moments, but Toledo capitalized on the same mistakes that we kept making over-and-over again," said NIU head coach Julie Colhoff. "At the end of the day, as I said to our team, it is okay to make mistakes, but it is not okay to not learn from them and then make fixes."

NIU (2-12-2, 0-8-1 MAC) and Toledo played a cagey opening 45 minutes as the Huskies and Rockets combined for just four shots. 

Three of the four shots came for the Huskies, all of which were in the opening 20 minutes. Senior Abby Gregg (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield East), senior Jennie Nailor (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Hoffman Estates) and freshman Allison Whitaker (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) each had an effort that forced a save from Toledo goalkeeper Adrianna Brewer. 

Toledo's (7-11-0, 4-6-0 MAC) lone look at goal in the first half came in the 25th minute when Stephanie Currie fired wide as the game went into the intermission goalless. 

The first good chance of the season half came for the Rockets in the 57th minute as Anita Mancini played the ball to Ashton Cassel and her shot went just high. 

Toledo got the breakthrough from the penalty spot in the 74th minute. Stonehouse broke free from the NIU defense on the counter, working her way into the box before being taken down as the referee pointed to the spot. Stonehouse stepped up to take the penalty herself and slotted it past NIU sophomore goalkeeper Julia Lentz (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) to give the Rockets a 1-0 lead. 

NIU had one more chance via sophomore Jenna Lewey (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) in the 80th minute, but it went high and wide as the Rockets claimed the 1-0 win. 

Lentz made four saves in the contest for the Huskies; Brewer finished with three saves for Toledo. 

NIU will conclude the regular season on Thursday, October 31, as the Huskies host Western Michigan. Kickoff against the Broncos is slated for 2 p.m.