Central Michigan University
Northwestern
Soccer Drops Tough Match at Northwestern, 2-1
9/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Sept. 16, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Central Michigan University women's soccer team played another strong match here this afternoon, but came up on the short end of another close decision, falling to the Northwestern Wildcats, 2-1. CMU has now lost four consecutive matches and its overall record sits at 1-4-1 with one non-conference game remaining before the start of Mid-American Conference play next weekend.
Anne Decker (Jr./Troy, Mich.)was the tough-luck loser in goal for CMU despite making a season-high 10 saves in the match. Northwestern goalkeeper Whitney Jones made four saves and earned the win for the Wildcats, who improved to 6-1-0 on the season. Northwestern outshot CMU 19-12 in the match, highlighted by an 8-1 margin in favor of the Wildcats in the opening half.
The Chippewas turned in a much better offensive showing that they had their last two matches, when they were shut out both times and generated only three shots on goal. CMU fired 12 shots, five of them on goal, and Alison Heydorn (Jr./Ancaster, Ontario) scored her first goal of the season.
"We did a much better job of getting wide and letting our forwards make runs," head coach Tony DiTucci said. "We were able to create better opportunities and generate more chances to score, and that was important for us after our last couple of matches."
After a scoreless first half, the Wildcats tallied twice in the second half to grab a 2-0 lead before Heydorn tallied to bring CMU to within a goal. Northwestern's first goal typified the tough stretch that the Chippewas have been in. Decker was in great position to make the initial save on a Wildcat chance, but she got tangled up with Michelle Noble and was unable to make the save on the rebound chance that Kelly Sitkowski tapped in to an open net.
"It's easy to feel good when things are going well and you're getting the results you want on the field," DiTucci said, "but the challenge is to stay positive and focused on the next game. We've got one game left before conference play begins, and we need to find success and be rewarded for the hard work we've been putting in. Our effort has been really good, and we've been doing a lot of good things in each match, but we've got to find a way to end up on the right side of the scoreboard."
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