MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team fell, 3-0, at Central Michigan on Sunday afternoon (April 11) in the season finale at the CMU Soccer Complex. Junior Julia Lentz (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) made five saves and freshman Marianna Neau (Douglasville, Ga./Alexander) also made a pair of stops in her collegiate debut. 

Just 13 minutes into the contest, NIU was whistled for a foul in the box, sending Central Michigan to the penalty spot. Natalie Belsito stepped up to take the penalty and hit it just to the right of Lentz who reacted well to make the save and prevent a rebound. 

Two minutes later, the Chippewas went in front on a goal by Jaelyn Dobrowolski. Dobrowolski had the ball just outside the box on the left side and cut just inside the box before chipping a shot that curled inside the back post, just under the crossbar, to give Central Michigan a 1-0 lead at the quarter-hour mark. 

The Chippewas doubled their lead in the 22nd minute through Belsito. Katie Coleman burst down the left wing and whipped in a cross toward the top of the six-yard box where Belsito ran onto it and fired a shot by Lentz from close range to put Central Michigan in front, 2-0. 

Just past the half-hour mark, freshman Kierah Meier (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) had an opportunity saved by Central Michigan goalkeeper Allison LaPoint as the Chippewas took a 2-0 lead into halftime. 

Eight minutes after the interval Central Michigan added a third. A Chippewas corner kick was cleared only as far as the top of the 18 where Samantha Kaye-Toral collected it and sent a shot just under the crossbar, out of the reach of a leaping Lentz, to give Central Michigan a 3-0 lead in the 53rd minute. 

NIU continued to look for a breakthrough and had a pair of chances with just over 15 minutes to play as Meier sent a header wide in the 74th minute and sophomore Nicole Barham (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) fired a shot wide a minute later. 

Central Michigan closes the season with a 5-4 overall record while NIU finishes the season with a 1-9 mark.