DEKALB, ILL. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team toppled Kent State, 2-1, with goals from
Reegan Kingpavong (Rockford, Ill./Guillford) and
Julianna Hill (Burlington, Iowa/West Burlington) on Thursday (Oct. 10) at the NIU Soccer Complex.
"I'm delighted to get back to winning ways, it had been a couple of weeks," NIU head coach
Michael O'Neill said. "Excited to get three points. I thought we created some very good chances, missed a few but I was still proud of the effort. This is a tough MAC game and it's going to take grit and toughness to get over the line."
NIU (7-4-3, 1-3-2 MAC) controlled play with 62% of the possession and 10 shots to nine for Kent State (5-5-2, 2-3-1 MAC).
"The goal scoring is by committee," said O'Neill. "Today we scored from two set pieces which I love, set pieces are very important. Reegan (Kingpavong) is 5-foot-3 and Julianna (Hill) is 6-foot but they both scored because it's about the will and determination to score goals."
NIU got on the board in the 37
th minute as
Katie Bennett took a corner and put the ball right into the middle of the box for Kingpavong. Kingpavong headed the ball into the left corner to beat the Golden Flashes goalie Heidi Marshall.
In the 59
th minute, Hill found the net after an initial free kick into the box by
Abby Zipse (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) found the head of
Tyra King (Menifee, Calif./Metea Valley). That effort was saved but Hill was there to follow up with the goal.
Kingpavong and Hill both earned their first goals of 2024. Bennett earned her second assist of the season on the first goal. On the second goal Zipse earned her first assist while King earned her fifth.
Abi Dolding (Hastings, England) earned the win after taking over as goalie in the second half. Dolding made three saves while allowing one goal after
Ary Purifoy (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) made two saves in the first half. Marshall made three saves for Kent State and allowed two goals.
The first half opened with an early opportunity for Kent State that sailed wide before the Huskies took over. NIU controlled the possession throughout the first half and forced the ball into Kent State's end before Kingpavong's goal in the 37
th minute.
NIU forced more chances throughout the second half and Hill doubled the lead in the 59
th minute.
Kent State quickly cut the deficit back to one as Allison Collins floated a ball from the left side into the top of the net.
NIU had few chances to add a third goal in the closing minutes as McKenna Campbell-Turkalj (Kitchener, Ontario) and
Isabel Struble (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Mount Pleasant) had looks on net.
The Huskies were able to keep the Golden Flashes away from the NIU end late and closed out their first MAC of the season.
NIU will be back in action on Sunday, Oct. 13 with a road trip to Akron. The match is set for a 12 p.m. CT kickoff.
-- NIU --
