KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team was defeated by Western Michigan in a narrow 1-0 setback to bring the Huskies' season to a close on Thursday, Oct. 31.
WMU (11-1-6, 8-0-3) scored what became the decisive goal in the 14
th minute as Callie Cunningham got the finish after a Broncos counterattack. NIU (9-5-5, 3-4-4 MAC) created many chances throughout the first half and had a few narrow misses.
"I'm really proud of the effort and application," NIU head coach
Michael O'Neill said. "When I say the first half was complete domination by us it might be an understatement, we could have scored four or five. In the wonderful game that is soccer, if you don't take your chances, you leave yourself open in the counterattack. Western Michigan are MAC champs and a top 30 team in the nation, and they punished us when we made a mistake."
NIU had 10 shots in the game and two on frame.
Tyra King (Menifee, Calif./Matea Valley) had both of those shots on net with one being saved off the line by Western Michigan goalkeeper Lauren Boafo in the first half.
"We went there and we played on the front foot and with intensity and quality," O'Neill said. "We did everything I asked of them and we just couldn't get the ball in the net. I think that sums up our season, there aren't many teams that have been better than us this season we just lacked some quality in the final third."
Ary Purifoy (Machesney Park, Ill./Oklahoma State) started in goal for NIU and made five saves.
The game was the final contest for the seven Huskies seniors,
Reegan Kingpavong (Rockford, Ill./Saginaw Valley State),
Edith Delgado (Aurora, Ill./East Aurora),
Abby Zipse (Batavia, Ill./Batavia),
Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany/Saginaw Valley State),
Chantelle Parker (Milton, Ontario/Pittsburgh),
Ary Purifoy (Machesney Park, Ill./Oklahoma State) and
Maddie Macon (Freeport, Ill./Freeport).
"We spoke after the game," O'Neill said. "We will lose seven great people that have been a joy to coach. They will leave a massive void both on the field and off. They have stamped their mark on the NIU women's soccer program… I'm grateful to them for all of their contributions and efforts."
The 2024 Huskies are the first NIU team since 2008 to finish above .500 and this season's 9-5-5 overall mark was the best record for a NIU women's soccer team since 2007 when the Huskies finished 10-5-5.
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