DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team will return to action on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 20, when the Huskies host Eastern Michigan. Game time against the Eagles is scheduled for 4 p.m. Prior to the contest, NIU will honor its three seniors, Kylee Hermeyer, Jordyn King and Jenna Lewey. 

"We are excited to celebrate and honor our three seniors," said NIU head coach Michael O'Neill. "All three of them have had different journeys through the program. I have obviously only worked with them for a short amount of time but Kylee, Jenna, Jordan are all great kids who have impacted the program in different ways.

"Kylee, our senior captain, has really stepped up and led from the front in terms of trying to change the direction of this program, using her experiences and passion for the team. She has been pivotal to the small amount of success we have had this year.

"Jordyn came in as a grad transfer and has only had three or four months with us, but she has been a huge part of the team. She has impacted us on the field, playing a ton of minutes at center back, she is a tough, hard-working defender and has helped us secure that backline. Although she has only been here a short time, we will miss her a lot. 

"Jenna has had a tough year; she came back for a fifth year, but her injuries have really stopped her. She has missed the bulk of the season but never really let that get in the way of her trying to impact the team in some way, shape or form. She has been through a lot at NIU and I'm sure is excited to try to leave the program better off than she found it."

NIU (5-6-4, 2-4-2 MAC) is coming off a 1-1 draw against third-place Kent State last time out (Oct. 16). Abby McHugh (Wauconda, Ill./Wauconda) scored her second goal in as many weeks in the tie against the Golden Flashes, Amber Best (Southfield, Mich./Mercy) picked up her second assist of the season on McHugh's tally. Claudia Muessig (Paw Paw, Mich./Paw Paw) leads the Huskies in scoring with four goals and nine points. 

Eastern Michigan (3-9-3, 2-5-1 MAC) defeated Western Michigan, 2-1, in its last contest (Oct. 16). Maddie O'Farrell and Hannah Thompson scored in the victory for the Eagles. O'Farrell has a team-high five goals and 13 points this season while Thompson is second on the team with four goals. Rebecca Przybylo has started 13 games in goal for Eastern Michigan, posting a 2.15 goals against average and a .707 save percentage. 

"Now every game is a cup final if we want to have any aspirations of playing in the MAC Tournament," said O'Neill. "Odds are against us somewhat, but I think if we take each game at a time, tomorrow is that first test. Eastern Michigan is coming off a great win over Western Michigan, which just shows that anyone can beat anyone in the MAC. We have to make sure we are ready to go tomorrow.

"It is an exciting time to have something to play for still. This is probably a scenario that our players haven't really faced too many times in their careers here (at NIU), but with a week left there are still things to play for and hopefully that will fuel some extra motivation, not only to celebrate the seniors but to see if we can go one step further and somehow get into the MAC Tournament."

NIU will conclude the weekend with its final road game of the conference season as the Huskies travel to Miami on Sunday, Oct. 23. Game time against the RedHawks is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.