CLEVELAND, Ohio – Dahlia Rodriguez (Round Lake, Ill./Grayslake Central) and
Sarah Roy (Saint-Julie, Quebec/College de Montreal) scored in the final 10 minutes to help lead the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over Cleveland State on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 4) at Krenzler Field.
Monica Correa (Des Plaines, Ill./Saint Viator) scored NIU's first goal in a wild sequence of four total goals in eight minutes
"Really proud of the resilience and perseverance in game, especially the last 15 or 20 minutes, which were crazy," said NIU head coach
Michael O'Neill. "Conceding those two goals out of nothing, one quick counterattack forward that was put away well and the second goal from really long-range catching us out from nothing. To respond when you felt like the game wasn't going to go our away. It's been hard for us recently to get goals, and obviously goals win games.
"In that moment, the character and togetherness really shone through and we were able to get those comeback goals, not only once, but twice, and obviously the third one to get the win. Delighted with the team effort and really proud of the group as a whole today."
The hosts broke the deadlock against the run of play in the 65th minute as Elise Boyd fed a ball to Cortlyn Hefty just inside the box and her shot found the back of the net behind NIU goalkeeper
Alexandra Devory (Ruckersville, Va./William Monroe) to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later,
Lyndsey Miller (Alton, Ill./Alton) had a chance for the Huskies as Mckenna Campbell Turkalj (Kitchener, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) and Roy kept the ball alive before finding Miller just inside the box, but her shot went high over the crossbar.
Correa leveled for the Huskies in the 78th minute.
Julianna Hill (Burlington, Iowa/West Burlington) put the ball into the path of Correa inside the box. Cleveland State goalkeeper Hayleigh Lewis got a hand to the shot, pushing it off the post before it just rolled over the line to even the contest, 1-1.
Just 86 seconds later, Cleveland State was back in front as Madison Wright caught Devory off her line with a shot from around 40 yards out as the Vikings reclaimed the lead, 2-1.
Rodriguez answered for the Huskies in the 83rd minute as
Abbey Kijewski (Nobleton, Ontario/Brill Crothers Secondary) sent in a cross from the right side and Rodriguez volleyed it toward goal. Rodriguez's shot caught the left hand of Lewis before nestling inside the side netting as the Huskies evened the match for the second time.
The Huskies then took their first lead of the game four minutes from time. Roy's initial shot cannoned back into play off the post to the right of Lewis. As Roy raced to get to the rebound, she arrived about the same time as a Viking defender and the ball deflected off one of them in the collision and into the net to give the Huskies a 3-2 advantage.
Cleveland State (2-9-1, 2-2-1 Horizon) had one more chance from distance on a shot from Olivia Cruz in the 89th minute that was comfortably held by Devory as the Huskies picked up the three points on the road.
The first chance of the game came for Correa in the seventh minute as her curling effort was held by Lewis.
On the quarter-hour mark, Roy collected the ball on the edge of the six-yard box with a great chance to open the scoring before a last second tackle from a Cleveland State defender denied NIU the opportunity.
In the 28th minute, the Vikings had a chance as a cross from the left side found Sidney Nicholas at the back post, but Nichols was unable to redirect her header on target.
NIU (3-5-3, 2-2-1 Horizon) had another excellent chance in the 43rd minute when Devory played a free kick into the box where Lewis made an excellent save on the first attempt from
Elle Wainscott (Oswego, Ill./Saint Francis HS) at close range before a second attempt was blocked and the third from Hill went just wide.
The Huskies were immediately on the front-foot after the interval as NIU had a trio of shots in the opening 30 seconds of the second half.
Cleveland State nearly opened the scoring in the 58th minute when a ball was slipped into the path of Nicholas whose shot was deflected wide for a corner. From the corner, Nicholas had another chance that was palmed over the crossbar by Devory before the Vikings were able to open the scoring seven minutes later.
NIU will return to action next Saturday, Oct. 10, when it travels to Milwaukee. Kickoff against the Panthers is scheduled for 4 p.m.
