OXFORD, Ohio -- A 16th minute goal from Emily Sexton was all that separated the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team and Miami on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 23) at Bobby Kramig Field as the Huskies fell to the RedHawks, 1-0. 

"In the first half, Miami got on top of us," said NIU head coach Michael O'Neill. "We were dropping our line lower and lower, and they were getting balls in the box at will, we gave them a little bit too much respect. They scored in that period and used the momentum to good effect.

"Second half, we came out and gave it a good go. Did we have all the quality in the world? No, but we were more aggressive in terms of cutting the source off higher up the field. I felt like we won a good amount of second balls and were able to turn those into attacking moments. It was another little reflection for our program that we were able to come here and compete. It wasn't to be in terms of the result, but I think we can take a lot of positives from the response in the second half and from the fact that we left it all out there."

Miami (8-4-5, 4-2-4 MAC) opened the scoring just past the quarter-hour mark as Kennedy Gray made a run into the box down the left side, bursting past a pair of Huskie defenders. Gray then clipped a cross into the six-yard box where Sexton headed it past NIU goalkeeper Sadie McGill (Fort Worth, Texas/L.D. Bell) from close range to give the RedHawks the lead. 

Just after the half-hour mark, McGill was called upon to make a very good save as Miami got the ball to Makenna Morrison about 10 yards from goal and McGill made herself big near the top of the six-yard box to make the stop. 

The RedHawks got into another dangerous position in the 41st minute and the shot came from Merceded Schroer, but Kylee Hermeyer (Dixon, Ill./Dixon) was able to make a block to thwart the opportunity as Miami took a one-goal lead into halftime. 

NIU (6-7-4, 3-5-2 MAC) had a sight of goal five minutes into the second half as a free kick was played into the box and Amber Best (Southfield, Mich./Mercy) flicked a second ball header just over the top of the Miami goal. 

Best found herself in another good position just past the hour mark as she dribbled the ball into a shooting position near the top of the box. As she was about to take a shot however, a Miami defender did just enough to nudge her off the ball and stop the chance for the Huskies. 

In the 68th minute, Miami had an opportunity to double its lead as Rachel Noonan ran onto a ball just inside the box, firing a rising shot that was tipped over the bar by McGill. The Huskies cleared the ensuing corner to keep the deficit at just one. 

Five minutes from time, the Huskies had one last chance as they earned a free kick 20 yards from goal off a Miami handball. Aubrey Robertson (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) stepped up to take it and put a shot on target, but it was right at Miami goalkeeper Izzie Vaccari who made the stop to help the RedHawks preserve the 1-0 victory. 

McGill made six saves in goal for the Huskies, Vaccari had three stops for Miami. 

With the results today, NIU has been eliminated from top-six contention to make the Mid-American Conference Tournament. NIU will close the season on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 27, when it hosts Bowling Green, kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. 

"There may not be a postseason berth to play for, but we need to finish the season strong," said O'Neill. "Out of respect for our seniors and respect for the work that everyone has put in, we want to make sure that we don't just turn up Thursday and go through the motions."