DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team returns home to host of pair of matches on Homecoming weekend. The Huskies welcome Bowling Green to DeKalb on Thursday night, October 24, at 7 p.m., before hosting Toledo on Sunday afternoon, October 27, at 2 p.m. Admission to all NIU soccer matches is free of charge. 

On Thursday night, free thundersticks will be given to the first 50 fans in attendance while on Sunday, the first 100 fans will receive a NIU visor. Huskie soccer will also recognize its alumni in attendance at Sunday's game, including Allison Wade Shepherd (1996-97) who will be inducted into the NIU Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday night. 

After playing five of its last six games away from home, NIU (2-11-2, 0-7-1 MAC) begins a three-game homestand to close the regular season when it hosts Bowling Green on Thursday night. During its only home game of the six-game stretch, NIU played to a 1-1 draw against Miami as senior Kelsey Chope (San Jose, Calif./Leland) scored for the Huskies and junior goalkeeper Megan Donnally (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) made 10 saves. 

MAC-leading Bowling Green comes to DeKalb with a 9-5-2 overall record, including a 7-1 mark in conference play. After opening the league slate with seven consecutive victories, the Falcons dropped a 1-0 decision in double overtime last time out against Ball State (Oct. 20). Nikki Cox and Kennedy White each have six goals to lead Bowling Green in scoring, Cox also has a team-high 16 points. Kathleen Duwve has seen the majority of the time in goal for the Falcons, posting a 1.21 goals against average and a .673 save percentage. 

Toledo comes into the weekend with a 6-10-0 overall mark and a 3-5-0 record in league play. The Rockets posted back-to-back 1-0 victories over Ball State (Oct. 18) and Miami (Oct. 20) last weekend. Stephanie Currie leads Toledo in both goals (6) and points (15) while Madison Perrin and Adrianna Brewer have split game between the posts. Perrin had a 2.22 goals against average and a .688 save percentage in nine contests while Brewer has a 1.41 goals against average and a .762 save percentage in seven matches. 

Following this weekend's action, NIU will close the regular season next Thursday afternoon, October 31, when it hosts Western Michigan. Kickoff against the Broncos is scheduled for 2 p.m.