Women's Soccer | August 23

DEKALB, Ill. -- After a 1-1 start to the 2023 season the Northern Illinois University women's soccer team will play their home opener on Thursday night against Eastern Illinois at 8 p.m. at the NIU Soccer Complex. The Huskies will then follow that up with another home match on Sunday afternoon when they take on Oakland at 12 noon. Admission to all Huskie soccer games is free of charge.  

"When you get the schedule released a lot of the eyes and attention turn to the home opener. Getting out there in front of friends and family and it being move-in week for NIU students adds to that excitement" head coach Michael O'Neill said. "We've had this on our radar, and we've already got two games under our belt that we had to compete in. Now we're excited to get things going in front of our home fans."

NIU opened the season with a commanding 3-0 victory over Western Illinois in Macomb last Thursday (Aug. 17). Lea Gruennagel assisted the first two goals in the match and Amber Best, Isabel Struble and Sarah Roy all scored. It was the first goal and first game at the collegiate level for both Struble and Roy.

Sunday's match at Valparaiso was back-and-forth, but the Beacons were able to score off a corner kick in the second half and held off the Huskies.
Eastern Illinois comes to DeKalb on Thursday with a 1-1 record. The Panthers fell to Valparaiso in their season opener before topping Illinois Springfield. Oakland also opened the year with a 1-1 record, falling to Kent State before bettering Eastern Michigan. The Golden Grizzlies will travel to Northwestern on Thursday before coming to NIU.

Both games this weekend are part of Huskie soccer doubleheaders. Thursday's the men's soccer team plays at 5 p.m., with the women's game against Eastern Illinois at 8 p.m. Note that those times are moved back one hour due to the heat. On Sunday, the women's soccer noon kickoff against Oakland is the first match of the day.

"The local community and NIU students being able to see both teams, both tomorrow and Sunday, is definitely a great thing for our program," O'Neill said. "Men's soccer has attracted a lot of attention over recent years and rightly so. They have done some great things and put NIU on the map from a soccer standpoint. We have them before us tomorrow and hopefully fans can bear the heat and stick around take in the women's team and see the progress we're making."
 
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