MACOMB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team (1-0) opened the season on Thursday with a 3-0 win in Macomb against Western Illinois (0-1).

"I thought from the first whistle we were on the front foot. We wanted to be a little bit more aggressive than we had been in the exhibitions so the girls came out to play right from the start" head coach Michael O'Neill said. "We had some really good movement off the ball in the attacking third and we caused some problems straight from kickoff."

After a scoreless first half the Huskies turned the game on its head quickly after halftime. In the 49^th minute, junior Lea Gruennagel made a cross from the left side of the box and sophomore Amber Best was waiting for it and placed it perfectly into the right corner of the net to give NIU their first goal of the year.  

Just 12 minutes later, Gruennagel put a corner kick right into the center of the box and freshman Isabel Struble headed it just over the Leathernecks goalkeeper off the bottom of the crossbar and into the center of the net to make it 2-0 Huskies.

"Lea's improved significantly since she came in last year as a transfer, she had a really strong preseason and she was fantastic today. The delivery for Amber's goal was point perfect, Amber just stuck her leg out and deflected it in. Then the corner she put it in the right area and Isabel took advantage of that delivery" O'Neill said.

"Lea played fantastic defensively as well, she's a left back so she gets up the field so much and has to have extremely high endurance levels for that."

Freshman Sarah Roy added the Huskies third and final goal in the 78^th minute unassisted with a kick off the inside of the right post and into the net.

"We just added a little bit more quality in the attacking third and were a little bit more composed, we had an extra pass and extra dribble when we needed it. We also have quite a lot of depth this year, they got more tired in the feet and we kind of had fresh legs and higher fitness levels. We reaped the rewards of the depth and the fitness levels later on," O'Neill said.

The three goals scored by NIU are the most in a single game since August 26, 2021.

NIU outshot WIU 11-4 overall and 8-3 in the decisive second half. The Huskies also led 5-1 in shots on goal.

The Leathernecks lone shot on goal was saved by redshirt senior goalkeeper Sadie McGill who picked up the win and got her first clean sheet of the 2023 season.

"I like the fact that we were able to score goals and change that mindset, the clean sheet is really important and sets the tone for the year. If you don't concede goals you're going to be in every game, that's a fact. I loved the effort defensively and we hope to continue this momentum on Sunday," O'Neill said.

NIU will now prepare to travel to Valparaiso to take on the Beacons. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday, August 20 at 1 p.m. at Brown Field.
 
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