KENT, Ohio – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team fell to the Kent State Golden Flashes by a score of 3-0 on Sunday, October 29 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
"I'm really proud of the group this year, they put a fantastic effort all season and have changed this program for the better," head coach Michael O'Neill said.
 
NIU has nine seniors that played their final match with the Huskies today.
 
"The seniors represent everything that is good about this program in terms of the hard work and the grit to come back and finish strong," O'Neill said. "The seniors raised the bar. It's amazing to see how far they've taken the program in the four years. We're going to miss them, but the bar has been raised and hopefully we can continue to move forward."
 
Kent State was able to find two first half goals from outside the box and a third on a header in the closing minutes.
 
"They scored from two set pieces and a long-distance shot, unfortunately we were not able to respond in the second half," O'Neill said. "I am forever grateful for the work the whole team put in."
 
After an improved 2023 season where the Huskies (8-8-3, 6-5-1 MAC) qualified for the MAC tournament for the first time since 2017. O'Neill believes the expectations are raised for the program in the future.
 
"The staff will take a few days and reflect on the season and then start to plan for the future. The expectations are raised, and the staff and players know that the expectations are raised," O'Neill said. "There's a lot to build on into the future."
 
Early in the contest, the Huskies thought they had opened the scoring but a very close offsides decision took the goal away.
 
The match was scoreless until a 36^th minute free kick by Kent State's Alisa Arthur was placed into the bottom left corner to put the Golden Flashes in front.
 
In the 38^th minute, Kent State extended the lead from outside of the box with a goal from Siena Stambolich.
 
The Huskies brought a lot of pressure in the second half and got deep into Kent State's end multiple times but were unable to find a goal.
 
Sahara Zingano's (Grismby, Ontario/Grimsby Secondary) shot in the 66^th minute from well outside the box required a diving save from Kent State goalkeeper Sarah Melen.
 
Sophia White (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) in the 81^st minute headed the ball just wide of the right post.
 
Kent State added its third, and final, goal in the 84^th minute off of a header from Tori Copfer.
 
The Huskies kept the pressure on in the second half until the final second and got deep into the Golden Flashes end but were unable to find a goal.
 
NIU finishes the season with eight wins, its most since 2017, including six conference victories, the most for the program since 2007.
 
- NIU -