Mid-American Conference play begins this week for the NIU Volleyball and Women’s Soccer teams while the Huskie Football team returns home to take on Tulsa on Saturday. Men’s Soccer and Women’s Golf will also be in action this week in Huskie Athletics.
Football
Saturday, September 22: vs. Tulsa, 11 a.m. – Buy Tickets | CBS Sports Network | Listen Live | Live Stats
The NIU Football team returns to Huskie Stadium this Saturday to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at 11 AM on CBS Sports Network. The Huskies are 1-2 on the year after a 35-11 loss at Nebraska last week. NIU’s defense held the Cornhuskers to 14 points over the first 44 minutes of the game. Thirteen different Huskies caught a pass in the game, the most in a single NIU game since 2000. This is the second meeting between NIU and Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane won 38-35 in last season’s meeting at Tulsa. NIU rallied from a 24-7 deficit to take a 35-31 lead with under six minutes to go behind three passing touchdowns and a rushing score from Rocky Lombardi.
Volleyball
Thursday, September 21: at Bowling Green, 5 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Friday, September 22: at Bowling Green, 5 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Conference play begins this week for the NIU Volleyball team as the Huskies travel to Bowling Green for a pair of matches. The Huskies and Falcons will meet on Thursday and Friday, with both contests scheduled for 5 p.m. CT. NIU wrapped up non-conference play at the Northern Iowa Tournament, where the Huskies met 25th-ranked Dayton, North Dakota and the host Panthers. Crew Hoffmeier was named the MAC West Division Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 5.22 digs per set. For the season, Hoffmeier is averaging a league-high 5.19 digs per set, which also ranks 15th nationally.
Women’s Soccer
Thursday, September 21: at Western Michigan, 3 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
MAC play arrives this week for the Huskie women’s soccer team. NIU went 2-3-2 in non-conference play and will open the conference slate on Thursday with a road trip to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan. NIU’s conference home opener will be on Sunday when they host Toledo. The Huskies are tied for the MAC lead in goals against average, having allowed just 0.71 goals per game. Goalkeeper Sadie McGill is tied for the conference lead with three shutouts and her 0.72 goals against average also leads the league.
Men’s Soccer
Saturday, September 22: at Evansville, 7 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
The Huskies head on the road for their first Missouri Valley Conference away game of the season when they travel to Evansville on Saturday. NIU opened league play with a 3-0 setback against then 15th-ranked Missouri State. Taisei Arima and Eddie Knight are tied for the team lead with seven points, Arima had his three-game point streak end last time out against the Bears.
Saturday’s contest will be just the third all-time meeting between the Huskies and Purple Aces, and the first since 2017.
Women’s Golf
Monday-Wednesday, September 25-27: at Johnie Imes Invitational (Columbia, Mo.)
The NIU women’s golf team plays its third tournament in three weeks when the Huskies travel to Columbia, Mo. for The Johnie Imes Invitational. The tournament will be played at The Club at Old Hawthorne, a par 72 course, with one round scheduled each day.
NIU is coming off a 12th place finish in a stacked field at the Mary Fossum Invitational in Lansing, Michigan last week. Emily Romancew was NIU’s top finisher as she tied for 15th at three over 219 with rounds of 71-75-73, while Jasmine Ly opened the tournament with a two-under 70 en route to a tie for 37th.
Sydney Naro led NIU to a third-place team finish at The 2022 Johnie Imes Invitational as she tied for sixth individually. The Huskies posted a 54-hole score of 891 (303-287-301) last year.