Sept. 18, 2011

CHICAGO –

The Loyola (3-5-1) women’s soccer team fell to in-state opponent Northern Illinois (1-5-2), 2-0, in an afternoon match-up today in DeKalb, Ill. The Ramblers were unable to stop sophomore Frances Boukidis, as she scored two goals in the second half to give the Huskies their first victory of the season.

At the 53:48 mark, Boukidis connected with a pass from Kelsey Passaglia to score her first goal of the season and put the Huskies up 1-0. Twenty minutes later, Boukidis found the net again, also from Passaglia, to notch the security goal.

With a combination of aggressive defense and skillful goalkeeping, the Ramblers held off the Huskies in the first half to send the teams into intermission scoreless. The backline fended off eight shots and caught Northern Illinois offsides twice. Freshman Monica Gonyo was back in the starting lineup at goal, after sitting out a few weeks due to an injury. Gonyo finished the contest with five saves and took the loss to move to 3-2-0 on the season.

The second half saw a stronger offensive push for Loyola than the first. The team put together seven shots, four in the final 10 minutes of the match, in a last-ditch effort to deny the shutout. Junior Kristin Papierski launched a shot off of a corner kick from Jessie Hubly in the 87’ for the final attempt but came up short.

As a team, the Ramblers collected eight shots, giving Northern Illinois the edge with 15. The Huskies also finished with a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks. Sophomore Alex Brown led Loyola with two shots and one shot on goal. Papierski also added two shots to the team while Tricia Stonebraker finished with one shot on goal. Ana Claudia Michelini, Valerie Gonyo, and Allison Shimer collected one shot apiece to round out the team total.

Up next, the Ramblers will travel to College Station, Texas and face Texas A&M. The Rambler-Aggie duel is set for Sunday, Sept. 25 at 1:30 p.m. CST.

http://loyolaramblers.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/recaps/091811aab.html