CHICAGO, Ill. - The Chicago State University women's soccer team scored a late goal in the 85th minute to defeat and stun the defending NEC Champion Howard Bison on Sunday afternoon. Chicago State was able to out duel the Bison finding plenty of chances to pull off the victory. Howard came into this match-up unbeaten on the year in the NEC and are also coming off a season where they won the NEC conference tournament and represented the conference in the NCAA Division I tournament. Chicago State found themselves down in an early hole after conceeding a goal in the first five minutes. Excellent defense and goalkeeping kept the Cougars in the match. The Cougar put together their best half of the season scoring two goals to defeat the Bison.
The Bison struck first on the day in the fifth minute, Howard took an early lead 1-0 and controlled the offensive end. The Cougars fought back to put six great look at the net to put pressure on the Bison. Play remained near mid field as defenses began to control the game not allowing either offense to break through. The defense was led by
Tara Savage,
Veronika Avila, and
Teyha Guiden to hold the defensive line in the first half.
Chicago State really found a rhythm in the second half finding ten shots on the half to out shoot the Bison. The momentum shifted entirely when the Bison comitted a foul in the box which gave the Cougars a penalty kick.
Gabby Flores, who scored two penalty kick goals in the season opener, converted the free opportunity to put the Cougars on the board and tied the game at 1-1. The Cougars continued to hold their own preventing any scoring chances. The Cougars held the Bison to only one quality on goal shot in the second half. With about five minutes remaining the Cougars earned a corner kick.
Renee Davis sent the ball into the box within striking distance and after a few bounces of the ball off of a few players, the ball found the foot of senior captain
Saige Thor who put the ball in the back of the net to put the Cougars ahead 2-1. It was Thor's first goal of her career. Chicago State kept the ball on the opposite end of the field away from striking distance to defeat the Howard Bison.
Aviana Gutierrez made seven saves on the day and was huge in holding the Bison to the one goal.
Coach Larry reflected on the victory and had high praise for his senior captain.
"Getting this win was absolutely refreshing. We came into this game with some tough losses that we could have had better performances. But these young ladies came out today and played with such resilience after going down by a goal early, coming back to make it even, and finding the back of the net late in the game. Saige is the backbone of our team. To see her score and see how excited her teammates were for her. I was so happy and proud at the same time. It was a well deserved goal."
Captain
Saige Thor reflected on what her thoughts were scoring the game-winning goal.
"My thoughts were put in the back of the net. At practice we work on those corner kick scenarios. In those training sessions I had a header that barely missed and I have been itching to score a goal for some time now. I wanted to do this for my team and I am so happy we finally put it away and together to get that final result."
Up Next
Chicago State now earned their first conference win of the season and are now 3-7-5 overall and 1-4-2 in the NEC. The Cougars will hit the road this week as they travel to Connecticut to battle the New Haven Chargers on Thursday, October 23 at 3:00 PM (CT)
