DEKALB – The NIU women's soccer team (4-10-5, 3-6-2 MAC) travels to Kent, Ohio to compete in the Mid-American Conference tournament semifinals against Western Michigan (13-6-1, 6-4-1 MAC) on Friday at 3:00 p.m. central.
 
The Huskies are coming off of their quarterfinal win over Ball State in penalty kicks on Sunday. Regulation and overtime ended tied at 1-1 and went to PKs where Huskies' goalkeeper MacKenzie Lee (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville) made two saves with four out of five in the NIU lineup scoring to clinch the win.
 
Sophomore Taylor Sarver (Machesney Park, Ill./Harlem) scored the Huskies goal in the second half on a set piece that was played into the box by freshman Natalie Yass (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) and played behind the Ball State keeper. Sarver was named to the All-MAC first team after finishing the regular season with 13 points, six goals and an assist.
 
NIU lost their only meeting against the Broncos this season by a score of 2-1 last Thursday in the regular season finale. Senior Alex Elias (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek) got the opening goal of the game in the third minute on a corner kick but WMU scored two goals in the second half to get the win.
 
The winner of this game will move on to the conference finals to play the winner of Kent State and Central Michigan to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Friday's semifinal game will be streamed online at www.mac-sports.com and on www.kentstatesports.com.