DeKALB - After a strong defensive showing against Baylor, Northern Illinois University women's soccer (1-2-1) turns their focus to the Cat Classic where the Huskies will meet No. 23 Arizona (3-1-1) and Arizona State (3-1-1) in Tucson, Arizona at Mulcahy Stadium. The No. 23 Wildcats will be the first game for NIU in the Cats Classic, kicking off at 8 p.m. Central.

NIU is looking to rebound after a gritty loss to the Baylor Bears (4-1) last Friday. The Huskies battled the Big 12 opponent through 87 minutes, holding the match to a scoreless affair until the Bears took the lead in the 88th minute off of a perfectly timed Julie James header. Baylor would go on to win the match, 1-0. Junior net minder Amy Annala stopped four shots while the defense in front of Annala held Baylor to just seven shots.

The Huskies' goalkeeper has had a stellar start to the season, allowing just one goal in 290 minute of action for a 0.31 goals against average. She has stopped 17 shots this season as well.

Arizona is coming off a 2-0 weekend at the Sun Devil Desert Classic, blanking both the Denver and Columbia. The Wildcats have outscored their opponents 13-6 thus far while averaging 2.6 goals per game.

Senior midfielder Lexe Selman-Richards leads the Wildcats with eight points. Cali Crisler and Gabi Stoian have added six and five points, respectively. Sophomore goalkeeper Lainey Burdett has yet to allow a goal in her 180 minutes of action. Arizona's defense has also held opponents to only 40 shots while Arizona has posted 95 shots.

The Sun Devils are 3-1-1 this season, suffering their first of the season last Sunday against Denver, 3-1. ASU has also posted wins over Boston University (2-1), Loyola (4-0) and Columbia (3-0) while its lone draw came to perennial power Boston College (1-1).  Jazmarie Mader has scored four of the team's 11 goals this season while Megan Delaney owns a 0.85 goals against average in net.

This will be NIU's first meeting with Arizona and Arizona State. Live stats will be available for the match.