KENT, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team won, 2-1, on the road at Kent State on Sunday. A Kent State own goal and a Tyra King (Naperville, Ill. / Matea Valley) rebound goal was enough to seal the victory for the Huskies.
 
"I'm delighted with the win first and foremost," NIU head coach Michael O'Neill said. "It was a tough game against a good team and they will no doubt be right there in the MAC tournament. We responded well from Thursday; we didn't feel like we put our best foot forward on Thursday against Buffalo and we had some conversations and then today they came out today and it was a great, really tough game."
 
The Golden Flashes drew two penalty kicks in the match but were only able to score on one of them.
 
Sadie McGill (Fort Worth, Texas / L.D. Bell) made seven saves while allowing just one Kent State goal in the match. Kent State goalkeeper Sarah Melen allowed two goals while making five saves.
 
NIU (6-6-3, 4-3-1 MAC) outshot Kent State (8-5-2, 5-3 MAC), 12-11, while the Golden Flashes led in shots on goal eight to six.
 
King was able to score the second goal for NIU which ended up putting the match out of reach.
 
"That goal was a big part of the win," O'Neill said. "She's scored one already this year, but she's had a hard run of it the last few weeks. She's actually played really well, causing problems as a freshman in a tough conference. That was a big moment for her and hopefully she can continue to finish the season strong."
 
In the 24^th minute, Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany / Intergrierte Gesamtschule Contwig) kicked a free kick toward the net and the ball was booted by Melen, but it went right off of her own defender Dalaney Ranallo and the ball rolled into the Kent State net.
 
In the 50^th minute, the Huskies were whistled for a penalty as they attempted to clear the ball from the Huskie box.
 
Alanna Raimondo took the penalty, but the ball tailed left and away from the net as it failed to reach the goal line. McGill was then able to clear the ball to safety.
 
Then in the 57^th minute, Abby McHugh (Wauconda, Ill. / Wauconda) kicked the ball into the box, it was popped up by a Kent State defender and went off the post. As Melen chased the ball, King was able to beat her to the ball and kick it in the net and extend the Huskie lead to 2-0.
 
In the 73^rd minute, Giulia Giovinazzi scored from the penalty spot after the Golden Flashes drew the second foul in the Huskie box. Giovinazzi beat McGill to her left to cut the score to one.
 
Kent State had two attempts on frame in the closing minutes that were stopped by McGill as the Huskies sealed the 2-1 victory.
 
NIU will return to DeKalb for their final home game of the season on Thursday, October 19, against Ball State. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. and admission to NIU Soccer is free of charge. Following the Ball State game, NIU closes the season with road matches against CMU and Bowling Green.
 
- NIU -