DEKALB, Ill. – Following a dramatic, double overtime victory over Indiana State, the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team continues its three-game homestand as the Huskies welcome Chicago State to DeKalb on Thursday, Aug. 26, at 5 p.m. The contest is the second game of a doubleheader with the NIU men's soccer team taking on Purdue Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. 

Thursday is also National Dog Day and to celebrate NIU Athletics invites fans to bring their dog to the soccer doubleheader, all dogs in attendance will get a treat. NIU's own Huskie, Mission, will also be in attendance. Admission is free of charge.

In the home opener against Indiana State, Haley Hoppe (Austin, Texas/Rouse) opened the scoring in the 88th minute, only to see the Sycamores equalize in the final minute of regulation. Hoppe then tallied the game-winner in the 104th minute, with Kali Stock (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) providing assists on both goals. Sadie McGill (Fort Worth, Texas/North Texas) made six saves in goal as she earned her first career victory as a Huskie. 

NIU head coach Julie Colhoff hopes the Huskies can gain some momentum from the win, while also recognizing there are things to work on. 

"A main area of focus for us is putting together complete halves," said Colhoff. "In our first (home) game, obviously we were able to finish the job, but something that we left out there was being able to close out a half, which is something we will be focused on. We are pumped from the last game, but we are not satisfied, so I think that hunger can help drive us."

Chicago State will be playing its first game of the 2021 season on Thursday when it comes to NIU. The Cougars went winless a season ago but return leading scorer Barbara Castellanos, who scored three goals during the 2020-21 campaign. 

With the first weekend of games under its belt, the Huskies have been able to learn from those contests and apply those lessons on the practice field in preparation for this weekend's home games. 

"The film is a huge advantage for us to have and to be able to break down, both positionally and collectively as an entire group," said Colhoff. "When we take the field, whatever happened in the last game tends to be fresh in your mind, so you are a little more motivated to come to practice and fix the things that went wrong or capitalize on the things that went well."

Following Thursday's game, NIU will remain at home at it closes out its three-game homestand on Sunday afternoon against Eastern Kentucky at 1 p.m. 

Eastern Kentucky comes into the weekend with a 1-1 overall record after a pair of overtime games to begin the season, topping IUPUI, 4-3, before falling to Northern Kentucky, 2-1. Five different players have scored goals this season for the Colonels, who are beginning their first year as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference. Eastern Kentucky will visit Milwaukee on Friday, Aug. 27, before coming to DeKalb.