Iowa State Battles Past Northern Illinois 2-0

STATS | HIGHLIGHTS | Wendy Dillinger Interview | Ashley Johnson Interview

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State soccer team made its home debut Sunday afternoon at the ISU Soccer Complex and delivered a 2-0 win over Northern Illinois. The Cyclones had goals from Jennifer Dominguez and Ashley Johnson to move their season mark to 2-0. Northern Illinois dropped to 0-1.

Jennifer Dominguez scored an opportunistic goal for Iowa State at the 10:24 mark. The sophomore pounced on a rebound off a blocked shot from Brittany Morgan and placed the ball past Northern Illinois goalkeeper Amy Carr to give the Cyclones the early 1-0 advantage. The tally was Dominguez's first of the season.

"We weren't playing very well at that point, we were getting dominated," said Iowa State head coach Wendy Dillinger. "At that point in the game, getting that kind of allowed us to relax a little bit."

Freshman Ashley Johnson electrified the crowd with a 25-yard rocket that flew into the top of Northern Illinois' goal. Johnson scored off an assist from fellow freshman Alyssa Elver for her first tally in an Iowa State uniform.

"It was a great individual effort, she beat the defender, took a touch, picked her head up and just buried it," Dillinger said. "It was a great shot. She caught the goalkeeper kind of out of position a little bit and surprised her."

Both teams would battle scoreless the rest of the way to give the Cyclones their second-straight shutout to start the season.

Maddie Jobe played the full 90 minutes in the Iowa State goal and pushed her season mark to 2-0. Jobe also registered her second shutout of the 2011 season. The sophomore collected four saves, while her counterpart, Carr, had five for Northern Illinois.

For the match, Iowa State had a 12-9 shots edge over Northern Illinois. The Cyclones also won the corner-kick battle 5-1.

Iowa State's 2-0 start is its first perfect beginning to a season since 2007.

The Cyclones next face Green Bay Friday at 7 p.m. in a match in Green Bay, Wis.

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Players Mentioned

Jennifer Dominguez

Jennifer Dominguez

Alyssa Elver

Maddie Jobe

Maddie Jobe

Ashley Johnson

Brittany Morgan

Brittany Morgan

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