Goals of either side of halftime from Reegan Kingpavong (Rockford, Ill./Guilford) and Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany/Intergrierte Gesamtschule Contwig) gave the Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team a 2-1 victory over Eastern Kentucky on Thursday afternoon (Aug. 18) in the regular season opener.
Kingpavong opened the scoring just 108 seconds into the contest and, after Eastern Kentucky tied the game, Gruennagel netted the winner in the 62nd minute to give first-year Huskie head coach Michael O’Neill a victory in his debut at NIU.
“It was the perfect way to start the season,” said O’Neill. “The girls worked their socks off and we ended up coming away with a win, so I couldn’t ask for much more honestly. We were ready for battle today and I think that showed, anyone that watched that game knew that every player on the field was giving 100 percent and it was nice to see it paid off with a result. I’m really proud of the group and ready to go again on Sunday.”
It took the Huskies less than two minutes to open the scoring as Kingpavong pounced on a ball inside the six-yard box off a throw to tap in the opening goal of the contest. Jordyn King (Menifee, Calif./Paloma) took the throw which found Kingpavong in the box. Her initial attempt was stopped by Eastern Kentucky goalkeeper Lauren Seedlock but the rebound feel kindly to the feet of the Rockford, Ill., native who tapped home the game’s opening goal.
“We have a good asset with Jordyn King,” said O’Neill. “She brings a different asset with the long throw, and it was nice to see something off the training ground work. The fact that it happened so quickly and got us off to a flying start was great and, honestly, we could have scored off a couple more.”
Eastern Kentucky had its first good look at goal in the 24th minute as Audrey Anderson fired a shot just over the top of the NIU goal.
Two minutes later, Kingpavong nearly had a second. A Huskie throw-in was flicked on to Kingpavong at the top of the box, but her shot was stopped by Seedlock.
In the 43rd minute, a shot from distance by Eastern Kentucky’s Maddy Lemery went just over the crossbar and two minutes later Gretta Gunn had a chance from near the top of the box that was collected by NIU goalkeeper Deighton Wamer (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) as the Huskies took a 1-0 lead into the interval.
Three minutes after the break, Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw) had the ball on the left wing and fired a ball low across the face of goal but no one was able to redirect it on target.
The Colonels were level in the 52nd minute on a goal by Myla Sharpless. Off an Eastern Kentucky free kick from near midfield, the initial ball took a deflection and fell right to the feet of Sharpless who turned and tucked a shot inside the post from about 12 yards to pull the hosts level.
Just past the hour mark the Huskies were back in front as Gruennagel gave NIU a 2-1 lead. Abby McHugh (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) collected a turnover and played a short pass to Gruennagel who hit it first-time from about 25 yards. The shot hit the underside of the crossbar and went in as NIU regained the advantage.
“(Eastern Kentucky) swung momentum with the goal in the second half and we responded in the flow of the game,” said O’Neill. “That’s where the group is a little different this year, a little strong and more resilient. I actually think our best period in the game was after they scored, the next 20 minutes we created a ton of chances and could have had a couple more through great crosses and wide play from (Madison) Looby, Kierah (Meier) and Claudia (Muessig). I’m proud of them.”
Celia Lopez had a chance for Eastern Kentucky in the 74th minute as she slipped past a pair of Huskie defenders to give herself space for a shot, but she dragged the effort wide, and in the final minute, Lemery took a shot from just outside the box that went wide as the Huskies opened the season with a victory.
Wamer made three saves in goal for the Huskies to pick up a victory in her collegiate debut, Seedlock also made three stops for the Colonels.