DEKALB, Ill. – Abby McHugh (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) scored three minutes into the second half to help the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team earn a 1-1 draw against Kent State on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 16) at the NIU Soccer Complex. The Golden Flashes opened the scoring in the first half before McHugh's second goal in as many weeks grabbed a point for the Huskies. 

"I thought we were the more dominant team," said NIU head coach Michael O'Neill. "We outshot them, we had eight corners to zero. Territory in the second half was one way for probably 75 percent of the half. Two ways of looking at it, one, against the team we are playing, and where we are as a program, yes, a point earned, and we'll take it. But in terms of how the game panned out, 90 minutes, back-and-forth, we could have won the game."

After falling behind while playing against a strong wind in the opening 45 minutes, it didn't take the Huskies long to take advantage of the conditions in the second half. McHugh had a chance from just outside the box wide left of goal in the 47th minute that was tipped away by Kent State goalkeeper Sarah Melen for a corner. 

Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany/Intergrierte Gesamtschule Contwig) whipped in the corner toward the penalty spot where it was nodded on by Jordyn King (Menifee, Calif./Paloma). Amber Best (Southfield, Mich./Mercy) got on the end of King's header and headed the ball against the post from close range, the rebound fell kindly to McHugh who prodded home an equalizing goal from inside the six-yard box in the 48th minute. 

The tally marks the second consecutive Sunday in which the Wauconda, Ill., native has gotten on the scoresheet. 

"It was nice to get a set piece goal," said O'Neill. "We watch scouts every week and every game is normally a set piece. Teams are winning 2-1, 1-0, set piece, set piece, and we are working hard for our goals, so its nice to get one from a set piece and hopefully there are a couple more to come."

NIU (5-6-4, 2-4-2 MAC) controlled the majority of the play in the second half as the Huskies outshot the Golden Flashes, 8-5, in the second 45 minutes and had a 7-0 edge in corners. 

In the 78th minute, Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw) had a chance from an attempted clearance by Kent State inside the box, but her volley attempt went wide. 

The Huskies had one final chance in the last minute as a corner was cleared to Muessig just outside the box, her shot went wide, and the two teams had to settle for a share of the points. 

Melen made five saves in the contest for Kent State, Sadie McGill (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell) had one for NIU. 

In the first half, just before the half-hour mark, NIU counterattacked quickly through Best who played a ball wide to Abby Adams (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) and she forced a save from Melen on a shot from just outside the box. 

The visitors went in front in the 35th minute when NIU failed to clear a ball inside its box and Taylor English opened the scoring for Kent State (4-6-5, 4-1-3). English's first touch took her away from a pair of Huskie defenders and in all alone with McGill. The NIU goalkeeper got a piece of English's shot, but it wasn't enough to keep the ball from crossing the goal line to give the Golden Flashes the lead heading into halftime. 

NIU will be back in action at home on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 20, when the Huskies host Eastern Michigan at 4 p.m. at the NIU Soccer Complex. Prior to the contest, NIU hold its Senior Day celebrations.