Winning in pink

By Forrest Dukes, Sports Editor

Women’s soccer bounces back from their earlier weekend defeat to Western Michigan to win against the Northern Illinois squad Sunday afternoon.

Against WMU:

Akron 6-7-1 fell to Western Michigan Friday, Oct. 10 by a score of 1-0. The lone score of the game came from an assisted ball from Gina Maddi to Irene Young in the 21st minute. Throughout the match, the Zips had chances to tie the score but each time the Western Michigan goalie, Stephanie Heber stopped the attack and saved the ball from landing into the net.

The Zips were outshot 19-4 during the match while both goalies saved two scores.

Against NIU:

The lady Zips sported pink to gain awareness for breast cancer in their annual “Kick for the Cure” game the Zips hosted the Huskies of Northern Illinois University.

Neither team could gain advantage over the other during the match. UA outshot the NIU 9-6 and 4-3 in shots on goal, with both goalies saving three scores.

The lone score came from a penalty kick from Sara Sivic in the 90th minute leaving only seven seconds for the Huskies to respond. Lani Smith also had another great game as she had five shots in the game three of them being shots on goal. “It was a great battle all the way, literally to the end. We worked awfully hard this year and committed a lot of our energy and soul to each other and to the game,” head coach Vernon Croft said.

Notes of the game:

With this win the Zips snapped a five match losing streak to NIU and UA’s goalie earned her second shutout of the season. Sivic’s goal was the first time in 362 minutes that NIU’s goalie Amy Annala was scored on and Sivic now is tied with Smith with the lead in goals with three each.

The Zips will go on the road for the next few games as they try to improve their record against MAC opponents the University of Toledo, Friday, Oct. 17 and Central Michigan, Sunday, Oct. 19.