DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team and conference co-leader Ball State played 89 minutes scoreless on Thursday (Oct. 19) before a goal by Tyra King (Naperville, Ill. / Matea Valley) gave NIU a 1-0 win. The Huskies chance came from a corner kick and the ball got flicked out of the box to Abby Zipse (Batavia, Ill. / Batavia). Zipse then passed the ball into the middle of the box with King waiting for it. King booted it past the Cardinals keeper and sealed another three points for the Huskies in the last home match of the regular season.
 
"I'm extremely proud of the team to get a win against a top team in the conference in a high-pressure situation," NIU head coach Michael O'Neill said. "From start to finish the group stuck to the game plan and were brave in possession. I thought that we more than deserved to come away with three points, it was just a great team effort."
 
The goal was King's second game-winning goal in as many matches and her third goal on the season overall.
 
Sadie McGill (Fort Worth, Texas / L.D. Bell) made five saves and gained her seventh clean sheet of 2023. That ties her for fourth place in NIU program history for most clean sheets in a single season.
 
NIU played deep into the Ball State half for much of the match and Cardinal goalkeeper Bethany Moser made 14 saves before King's winning goal for NIU with 45 seconds left.
 
"If there's one thing this program has struggled with it was getting results in these kinds of games," O'Neill said. "Kudos to the group because we have prepared as best as we can, and the players have started to believe in themselves. The Kent State win was huge for our momentum, and it carried into today, hopefully it stays with us. If you can go on the road and win at Kent State and win at home against Ball State, you can compete against anyone in this league."
 
In the first half of the match, NIU had four shots on frame while Ball state was held to one.  
 
In the second half the play opened up much more, NIU recorded 11 shots on goal and Ball State added four more. In the 60^th minute the Huskies and Isabel Struble (Mount Pleasant, Mich. / Mount Pleasant) broke through the Cardinals defensive line but Moser was able to keep the match scoreless.  
 
Multiple Huskies had chances at goal in the closing minutes. King had a shot on net in the 89^th minute to the lower left that was tipped just beyond the post by Moser.
 
That save set up a corner kick in the final minute and Zipse found King for the match sealing goal.
 
"You play until the very end, that was the message I preached when I first got the job here, and that came true today," O'Neill said. Those moments are so important, and they come from hard work and commitment to the group, I'm excited for what is to come."
 
NIU now heads on the road for the final two regular season matches, it will take on Central Michigan on Sunday, October 22. Then the Huskies wrap up the regular season against Bowling Green on Thursday, October 26.
 
- NIU -