DEKALB, Ill. – Scoreless at halftime, second-place Buffalo surged in the second 45 minutes to top the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team, 5-0, on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 5) at the NIU Soccer Complex. Marissa Foster scored three goals in the contest for the Bulls. 

Playing with the wind in the first half, NIU had the majority of the possession and held a 5-3 edge in shots at the intermission. 

The Huskies had a series of corner kicks midway through the opening 45 minutes and nearly went in front as Alyssa Stephenson (Oakville, Ontario/St. Ignatius of Loyola) had a chance cleared off the line from both of those corners in the 26th minute. 

Buffalo (9-2-1, 5-1-0 MAC) opened the scoring five minutes after halftime as Sarah Woods nodded home a rebound off an initial shot from Jasmine Guerber that was saved by NIU goalkeeper Lauren Pearson. 

The Bulls doubled their advantage in the 55th minute on a goal from Eva Blatz. Maya Galko whipped in a corner kick and Blatz was first to it at the back post to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. 

Just after the hour mark, Sarah Roy (Saint-Julie, Quebec/College de Montreal) collected the ball inside the box and made an excellent turn to initially create space, but a Buffalo defender recovered to block the shot from Roy. 

NIU (3-5-3, 1-2-2) had another chance from a corner in the 67th minute as Elle Wainscott (Oswego, Ill./Saint Francis HS) whistled a shot just over the crossbar. 

Buffalo added a third as Foster scored in the 71st minute as her shot from a tight angle snuck just inside the near post. Two minutes later, Foster added a second Galko thumped a long ball from inside Buffalo's half and Foster used her speed to get to it first before firing a shot inside the far post to give the Bulls a 4-0 advantage. 

Foster closed the scoring from the penalty spot in the 80th minute. 

NIU will return to action on Thursday, Oct. 9, when it hosts Western Michigan. Kickoff against the Broncos is scheduled for 7 p.m.