Women's soccer takes MAC West top spot with 2OT win over NIU

The women’s soccer team beat Northern Illinois 2-1 Sunday in an aggressive double–overtime thriller to boost it into first place in the Mid–American Conference West.

The first overtime was an uneventful one, with zero shots recorded by either team. The Huskies had two corner kick opportunities that didn’t materialize.

The Chippewas began the second overtime by making two substitutions. Freshman midfielder Christen Chiesa entered the game for sophomore Morgan Wilcoxon and freshman forward Danielle Rotheram came in for junior Nicole Samuel.

Less than a minute after the substitution, junior Kaely Schlosser fed a pass to Chiesa, who scored the game–winning goal from the 18-yard line. The tally was her second of the season.

“It felt great to score that goal, because we had all worked so hard that game and it feels good to win it for the seniors,” Chiesa said.

The game started off quick and aggressive, with three fouls called on each team within 15 minutes. Central Michigan applied early pressure with three quick shots as well.

“I thought these were the best officials we’ve had all year," head coach Neil Stafford said. "They did a great job. They had a lot of difficult calls to make, but we let them know what a great job they did."

The aggressive play would continue as the match went on.

Shortly after the six quick foul calls, CMU senior defender Katie Slaughter was called for her first red card of the season. NIU sophomore Allie McBride would capitalize on the resulting penalty kick to make the score 1-0.

Immediately following the penalty kick goal, CMU’s senior midfielder Ashley Mejilla went on an offensive tear. Mejilla piled on three shots within seven minutes, though she could not capitalize on her opportunities.

The two teams would exchange shots the rest of the first half but neither team would add to their goal total.

CMU ended the half out–shooting NIU eight shots to five.

“I’m proud of our team in the fact that we out–shot a team while playing a man down for 82 minutes of the game,” Stafford said.

The second half would start off much like the first half, with two foul calls made on each team.

Also like the first half, the Chippewas would act fast offensively, adding two quick shots, one by junior defender Estee Outcalt, and the other by sophomore forward Laura Gosse.

Later in the half, NIU freshman forward Nicole Gobbo received a yellow card. Shortly after the yellow card, CMU junior midfielder Autumn Hawkins capitalized on her own rebound to even the score at 1-1 and send the game into overtime.

The Chippewas look forward to a three–game home stand when they will host Akron, Buffalo, and Miami (Ohio).