Final Stats
TOLEDO, OH - Senior Kirsty Wilson had a pair of goals as Toledo posted a 3-0 shutout victory against Northern Illinois on Sunday in Mid-American Conference action at soggy Scott Park. With the culmination of today's win and Friday's victory against Western Michigan, UT (3-5-2, 2-0-0 MAC) has won its initial two league contests for the first time in school history.
"Before every match, we tell our players that for us to be successful, we need to be dangerous in restarts and win the final five minutes of each half," Toledo Head Coach Brad Evans said. "I'm very happy with today's effort because we did that scoring all three goals off set pieces and two of our three tallies occured during that specified time."
To begin today's match, both teams battled wet conditions and tried to establish some rhythm offensively. Neither team was very successful until the Rockets struck goal in the waning moments. Off a free kick from about 35-yards out, junior Suzi Siwinski perfectly sent a ball into the middle of the NIU goal box to Wilson, who promptly flicked a shot from 10-yards out past netminder Lindsey Curnock to give the Rockets a 1-0 advantage at the intermission.
To start the final second half, the Huskies (1-6-2, 0-2-0 MAC) had their best scoring chance with a free kick directly in front of the goal. Fortunately for the Midnight Blue and Gold, Kelly Mullany's shot from 30-yards out sailed high over the bar to keep the game at 1-0.
Just moments later, the Rockets took advantage of well executed back-to-back set pieces to increase their lead to three scores. Like in the first half, it was again Siwinski to Wilson in the 50th minute. The Solon, OH native sent a corner kick into the middle of the goal box and Wilson used her 5-foot-10 frame to out-jump the Huskies and rammed the ball home with her head. This marked the first time this season that a Rockets' player had at least two goals in a match.
With the Huskies still reeling from the previous score, the Rockets put the final dagger in their sides less than five minutes later off another corner kick. This time it was senior Diana Ginley, who was able to rise up and direct a cross from freshman Molly Cornwell into the far post for her second goal of the season and make the final score 3-0.
"Today we had players step up and make big plays and as a result we got a favorable result," Evans said.
Toledo held an 11-5 shot advantage in the match. Senior Jen Whipple and redshirt freshman Andrea Plewes combined for the shutout as they totaled two saves for the Rockets. Curnock absorbed the loss for the Huskies, collecting two saves as well.
The Rockets return to action at home next Friday, Sept. 29 and host Miami in MAC action at 4:00 p.m.
TOLEDO 3, Northern Illinois 0
UT: K. Wilson (Siwinki), 42:04
UT: K. Wilson (Siwinski), 49:25
UT: D. Ginley (Cornwell), 55:17
SHOTS: UT 11, NIU 5
CORNER KICKS: UT 8, NIU 1
SAVES: UT 2, NIU 3
FOULS: UT 11, NIU 11
