Women's Soccer | September 18

 
DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women's soccer team will open Mid-American Conference play this week. NIU will travel to Oxford, Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 19, to take on Miami before hosting Ohio at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22, at the NIU Soccer Complex.
 
"The MAC is going to be very difficult, so we want to make sure we are competing and looking to win games," NIU head coach Michael O'Neill said. "We want to be there at the end of the season, so we can't get carried away with ourselves. But we are feeling quietly confident about our start to the season so far and we are ready to take that against Miami on Thursday night."
 
NIU (6-1-1) opened their season with a tie on the road against DePaul and since then, have won six of seven matches. After that 0-0 season opener, NIU came home for two games and leveled St. Thomas, 4-1, and Southern Indiana, 6-1.
 
The Huskies then went on the road where they took down Oakland 1-0, before their only loss so far this season to #9 Notre Dame. NIU then closed out that four game road trip with a 3-0 win at Eastern Illinois and a 1-0 win at Illinois State. The Huskies returned home on Sunday, Sept. 15 to close non-conference play and took down Valparaiso, 2-1.
 
"Now we have to use this start to our advantage because now we're playing for three points," O'Neill said. "We are playing for points, standings and playoff position at the end of the season. The start has been great but now it's a clean slate as we head into MAC play."
 
The Huskies attention now shifts to earning three points and fighting for placement in the MAC.
 
"We're one of the higher ranked conferences in the nation right now," O'Neill said. "There have been some big wins from teams in our conference so we will take it one game at a time. It will be about making sure we are ready and healthy as the season continues. Hopefully we can make a run this year."
 
This year, the Huskies have been led in scoring by Tyra King (Menifee, Calif./Metea Valley) who has scored five goals and recorded four assists. Newcomer Kelsi McLaughlin (Greenfield, Ind./Illinois State) has scored four times and posted two assists. Senior captain Lea Gruennagel (Homburg, Germany/Saginaw Valley State) has scored and assisted twice while being critical to the Huskies defense.
 
Ary Purifoy (Machesney Park, Ill./Oklahoma State) has posted a record of 5-1-1 and allowed just six goals in seven matches while posting three clean sheets.
 
The Huskies have outscored opponents 17-7 through the eight matches this year. NIU's 17 goals is the third highest total among teams in the MAC.
 
The Huskies open MAC play against Miami and Ohio, who both also have just one loss this year. Miami has posted a tie against ranked South Carolina and Ohio's lone loss came at the hands of top 10 ranked Ohio State.
 
Last season, the Huskies went 6-4-1 in MAC play to finish fifth and qualify for the MAC tournament for the first time since 2017.  
 
-- NIU --