UTEP Soccer Overcomes NIU In Double Overtime, 1-0

With a 1-0 in double overtime, the UTEP soccer team beat the Northern Illinois University Huskies following a penalty kick goal from Lauren Crenshaw (102’) Sunday evening.

For 101 minutes, Orange and Blue (4-2-0) took 25 shots-to NIU’s 14- but finished the match with Crenshaw’s goal that defeated the Huskies’ (0-5-0) goalkeeper.

11 shots were on target out of the 25 shots the Miners took. Four shots were all recorded by April Pate, Vic Bohdan and Crenshaw.

Crenshaw is the first Miner in the program history to put away three penalty kick chances in a single season in just six appearances this year. she achieved the team-leading three goals from penalty kicks.

Alyssa Palacios is only two shutouts shy of becoming the program’s all-time career leader in the category having notched her first shutout of the season and 19th of her career with five saves.

“We picked it up and got plenty of shots (25),” UTEP head coach Kevin Cross said. “Their goalkeeper had one of the best efforts that I’ve seen. We finally got the goal at the end.”

It was a slow start for the Miners as the Huskies dominated possession of the ball leaving the game scoreless by halftime.

During the second half, UTEP kicked off the high heat on the Huskies’ goalkeeper (Megan Donnally) attempting 14 shots and seven shots on goal.

NIU’s Kylee Hermeyer was given a free kick from the result of a yellow card. Pate nailed the ball forcing the keeper to make a body bending save just seconds after the Huskies’ goalkeeper threw out the free kick.

After 90 minutes of action, the game went into overtime. Although both teams came out strong, their efforts were not enough, forcing the game to go into a second overtime.

A foul was committed by NIU defender Kelsey Chope in the 102nd minute of the game, which was originally signaled to be just outside the box. The center official awarded UTEP the penalty kick and Crenshaw ended the game with a victory winning goal for the Miners.

For their next match, the Miners will face New Mexico in Albuquerque at 7:30 p.m. MT Friday.