DEKALB – The NIU women's soccer team (4-7-4, 3-3-2 MAC) will begin their final stretch of the regular season as they travel to Ohio to face Toledo (6-9-1, 1-6-1 MAC) on Thursday and Bowling Green (7-8-1, 2-5-1 MAC) on Sunday. Thursday's match against Toledo will be aired on ESPN3 with a start time of 3 p.m. central.
 
The Huskies are coming off of a homestand where they played back-to-back scoreless draws against Akron and Buffalo.
 
After two straight shutouts, NIU goalkeeper Amy Annala (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) dropped her goals against average to 0.94 and boosted her save percentage to .821.
 
Toledo has dropped five straight matches with their last win coming on Sept. 25 against Ohio and tying Akron on Sept. 30. Bowling Green finished their last match in a scoreless draw against Miami with their last win coming on Oct. 2 against Akron.
 
Offensively, the Rockets are led by Kiersten Johnson, who has scored eight goals in 16 games played this season. Katie Wilson, the Toledo keeper has started all 16 games, allowed 23 goals this season for a 1.41 goals against average and has made 68 saves for a .747 save percentage.
 
The top two point scorers for the Falcons are Skylar Fleak and Maureen Kennedy with Fleak scoring six goals and an assist along with four goals and four assists from Kennedy. Two goalies have split time in 16 games with both Lauren Cadel and Kathleen Duwve each getting eight starts but Duwve has come off the bench in two games.
 
After Sunday, NIU will only have one regular season match remaining against Western Michigan next Thursday. The Huskies currently sit in fifth place in the Mid-American Conference standings, with the top eight teams qualifying for the MAC Championship quarterfinals.