DeKALB | “Welcome to the MAC,” said NIU head coach Carrie Barker. “It’s going to be physical.”
It didn’t take long Friday for the NIU women’s soccer team (4-2-2, 0-0-2 MAC) to remember exactly how physical conference play can be. The Huskies played Bowling Green (4-5-1. 0-0-1 MAC) to a 1-1 tie in the conference opener.

In the 27th minute NIU senior Lisa Maier lobbed a cornerkick in front of the Falcons net where several Huskies took shots. After several attempts Annie Wyer snuck a rebound past Falcon’s goalkeeper Alexa Arsenault.

“We defended a little too deep on the play,” Bowling Green head coach Andy Richards. “We gave a good team too many chances.”

It didn’t take long for the Falcons to respond as forward Alyssa Zuccaro fired a shot past Huskie goalie Lindsey Curnock just two minutes later.

Curnock was put in a similar situation in the second overtime as she once again found herself one on one with a fast charging Falcon. A hard slide to steal the ball away kept the game tied at one with just minutes to go.

“I had already been scored on once from a breakaway and I wasn’t letting it happen again,” Curnock said.

Her hard work would pay off Sunday when NIU and Toledo (5-3-2, 0-0-2 MAC) played to a scoreless tie. It was Curnock’s 28th career shutout, giving her the most shutouts in MAC history.
Curnock recorded five saves against the Rockets, including a diving catch with less than a minute left in regulation.

“She made a couple of amazing saves today,” Barker said. “Her defense kept us in the game.”
That game became more physical as the day wore on with two Huskies drawing yellow cards. Sophomore Kelsey Passaglia drew one of the cards after a violent collision with Toledo’s Megan Ginley.

“We knew it was going to be physical, Barker said. “But today we showed we could play with them.”

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