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TOLEDO, OH - Toledo captured the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history with a 2-1 victory over Northern Illinois on Sunday afternoon at Scott Park.

"I'm so happy for our players," sixth-year head coach Brad Evans said. "They've worked so very hard for this. They believed in themselves and they knew they had a chance to be good. These players have worked their tails off both in and out of the season and all their efforts have paid off."

"I'm so happy for our players. They've worked so very hard for this. They believed in themselves and they knew they had a chance to be good. These players have worked their tails off both in and out of the season and all their efforts have paid off." Head Coach Brad Evans

With the victory, the Rockets improve to 9-8-4 on the campaign. UT was the fifth seed for the eight-team tournament, topping No. 4 seed Bowling Green and No. 8 seed Miami to reach the final. NIU ends its season with an 8-10-2 mark.

The tourney title is the first in the 12-year history of the UT women's soccer program. The Rockets will learn their NCAA first-round opponent on Monday afternoon, Nov. 6 with the live selection announcement scheduled on ESPNews.

Both teams started today's championship match trying to shake out the nerves and a majority of the action took place in the middle of the field. Neither team had a shot on goal until NIU's Cara Stutler registered a tally at 9:57 into the match.

As the first half continued, the Huskies applied some good pressure to the UT defense and Karen Enockson nearly put the visitors on the scoreboard first at the 18:37 mark. Enockson had the ball down the left side and perfectly lofted a shot to the far post that UT senior goalkeeper Jen Whipple had to make an acrobatic save on.

UT did not have its first shot until freshman Molly Cornwell put one on target at 27:43. From that point on, though, the Rockets controlled the tempo.

The home team seemed to settle down as the first half wore on and they started to assert themselves offensively. Cornwell placed a free kick deep into the NIU goal box that senior Kirsty Wilson was able to get her head on, but her shot sailed just high at 39:59.

Moments later, the Rockets struck first blood at 41:20 on a beautifully executed cross and finish from freshman Ali Leak to Cornwell. Leak made a nice move in the corner to beat the NIU defender and crossed the ball to Cornwell, who promptly one-timed it into the back of the net for her team-best sixth tally of the season. It proved to be the only goal of the half and the Rockets led 1-0 at the intermission.

"We put the ball in dangerous positions today and when you do that good things happen," Evans said. "We made some adjustments as the first half continued on and that really seemed to help us."

Ashley Gerwin gets a hug from Ali Leak after scoring the eventual game-winning goal vs. Northern Illinois in Sunday's MAC Tournament finals.

Toledo stayed the aggressor to start the second stanza and doubled its lead at 47:56 on senior Ashley Gerwin's second goal of the season, while Leak was credited with her second assist of the match. The Pickerington, OH native had the ball down the right side and played it into the middle of the NIU goal box to Gerwin, who despite being in traffic, was able to get a foot on it and direct it into the back of the net for the eventual game winner.

Despite the two-goal cushion, the Rockets stayed on the attack and nearly added to its advantage at 64:45 on an athletic play by Wilson in the NIU goal box. Off a free kick by junior Suzi Siwinski, Wilson rose above the Huskies' defenders and headed a shot that again just sailed wide of the mark.

Northern Illinois took only one shot in the second half, but the visitors made it count. With their tournament life on the line, Thea Johnson put the Huskies on the scoreboard with a late goal at 87:38. Johnson fired a long shot from about 30 yards out on the right side that eluded the entire UT defense, including Whipple, and ended up in the upper left corner of the net.

Fortunately for the Rockets, the Huskies would not threaten again and the conference title would go to the Midnight Blue and Gold.

For the match, UT outshot NIU, 9-5, including a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal. Whipple made three saves in net to earn the victory, while NIU's Lindsey Curnock also had three stops at the other end.

Leak, Whipple, Wilson and junior Candice Choquette all represented UT on the MAC All-Tournament Team, while NIU's Johnson, Megan Kolkay and Katie Sturges joined them on the squad. Rounding out the all-tourney team were Kent State's Lisa Kurz and Amy Kessler, along with the Miami duo of Sara Warners and Jodi Zwingelberg.

As mentioned, the Rockets will learn the opponent and site for the first-round matchup on Monday. The first round of the 64-team, single-elimination tourney is Friday, Nov. 10.

TOLEDO 2, Northern Illinois 1

UT: M. Cornwell (Leak), 41:20
UT: A. Gerwin (Leak), 47:56
NIU: T. Johnson (Unassisted), 87:38

SHOTS: UT 9, NIU 5
CORNER KICKS: UT 6, NIU 1
SAVES: UT 3, NIU 3
FOULS: UT 9, NIU 17

MAC All-Tournament Team
Lisa Kurz, Kent State
Amy Kessler, Kent State
Sara Warners, Miami
Jodi Zwingelberg, Miami
Thea Johnson, Northern Illinois
Megan Kolkay, Northern Illinois
Katie Sturges, Northern Illinois
Candice Choquette, Toledo
Ali Leak, Toledo
Jen Whipple, Toledo
Kirsty Wilson, Toledo