This Week in Huskie Athletics
This Week in Huskie Athletics Northern Illinois University will have seven teams in action. NIU football will travel to take on Notre Dame for the first time ever on Saturday. NIU Volleyball will head to Minnesota for the St. Thomas invitational and three games over the weekend. Men’s soccer will be at home on Friday to take on Kansas City. Women’s soccer will also be heading to South Bend, as they take on top 10 Notre Dame on Thursday. NIU Cross Country will host the NIU Huskie Opener on the North 40 Course. NIU Men’s golf will start the Gopher Invitational in Minnesota on Sunday, Sept. 8, while NIU women’s golf will compete in Normal, Ill. starting Sunday.
Football
Saturday, Sept. 7: at Notre Dame, 2:30 PM – NBC/Peacock | Live Stats | Listen
The NIU Football team heads to South Bend, Ind. for the first time in program history on Saturday to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Huskies are 1-0 on the year after a 54-15 win over Western Illinois last Saturday at Huskie Stadium. Junior quarterback Ethan Hampton threw for a career-high 328 yards and five touchdown passes, completing 18 of 20 attempts. Hampton was named MAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. The Huskies amassed 706 yards of total offense against the Leathernecks, the third-most in a single game in program history. Notre Dame enters the game ranked in the top-10 in both the Associated Press and AFCA Coaches Polls. The Fighting Irish won at #20/20 Texas A&M 23-13 last Saturday. A full preview will be available on NIUHuskies.com later in the week.
Volleyball
Thursday, Sept. 5 vs Valparaiso – Live Stats
Friday, Sept. 6 vs Tarleton State – Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 7 at St. Thomas – Watch | Live Stats
After opening their season at the Huskie Invitational, the NIU Huskie Volleyball program begins a seven-game road swing this weekend as they compete at the St. Thomas Invitational. The Huskies will face Valparaiso on September 5 before meeting first-time opponent Tarleton State on September 6. Both of those games will take place at 4 p.m. central. The Huskies will face the hosts St. Thomas on September 7.
Four Huskies recorded career-best performances at the Huskie Invitational. On August 30, Nikolette Nedic tallied a career-best six blocks while Sarah Lezon had a career-best three service aces. Nazli Güvener had a career-best 21 kills against Milwaukee while Sophie Hurt set a career-best four service aces. Hurt recorded her third career double-double against Milwaukee while Ella Strausberger started her NIU career with back-to-back double-doubles.
Men’s Soccer
Friday, Sept. 6: vs. Kansas City, 7 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video | Free Admission
The NIU men’s soccer team returns to action on Friday evening (Sept. 6), as the Huskies host Kansas City at the NIU Soccer Complex. The Huskies will be looking to bounce back after a pair of setbacks this past weekend against Memphis and Green Bay. Taylor Davis scored his first goal of the season, and the fourth of his NIU career, against the Tigers while Kevin Kelly netted his first career goal at NIU against the Phoenix.
Kansas City comes to NIU with a 2-1-1 record after topping Missouri State, 3-2, on Monday night (Sept. 2) in Springfield, Mo.
Women’s Soccer
Thursday, Sept. 5: at Notre Dame, 6 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats
The Niu women’s soccer team has opened the 2024 season with its best start to a season since 2008 at 3-0-1. After opening the season on Aug. 15 with a 0-0 draw at DePaul, the Huskies then defeated St. Thomas 4-1 and Southern Indiana 6-1 at home. On Sunday, Sept. 1 the Huskies won after a second half game winner from Tyra King against Oakland.
Through four matches Tyra King has already matched the Huskies season high of three goals in 2023. Goalkeeper. Ary Purifoy has posted two clean sheets in three starts this season. Senior captain Lea Gruennagel has scored two goals and recorded an assist so far this season.
Cross Country
Friday, Sept. 6: NIU Huskie Opener, 5:30 p.m. – Meet Information | Live Stats
Huskie cross country begins its 2024 season at home on Friday evening (Sept. 6) on the North 40 Championship Cross Country Course. The women’s five-kilometer race is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. with the men’s four-mile race slated for 6:10 p.m. NIU returns five runners from a season ago and welcomes five newcomers. This season’s Huskie Opener marks the first time NIU has run at home since 2022 when it hosted the First State Bank Huskie Challenge on the North 40 Course. Joy Jackson, Carly Leonard and Emma Vorpagel each recorded top 20 finishes in that event.
The North 40 Course is located just east of the NIU Engineering Building, parking at the course can be found at the lots north of the intersection of Lucinda Avenue and Kishwaukee Drive.
Men’s Golf
at Gopher Invitational (Independence, Minn): Sunday, Sept. 8 – Monday, Sept. 9
The NIU men’s golf team is back in action this weekend at the Gopher Invitational, hosted by Minnesota at Windsong Farm Golf Club. The Huskies opened their 2024-25 season this past weekend with a 12th-place finish at the Island Resort Intercollegiate. Freshman Beau Petersen led NIU with a top-40 finish in his collegiate debut. Petersen tied for 38th with a 54-hole score of six-over 222. He carded a one-under par 71 in his second round last Sunday and was NIU’s low scorer in the final round with a 73. Ben Sluzas and Felix Krammer both finished in the top-20 at last season’s Gopher Invitational.
Women’s Golf
at Redbird Invitational (Normal, Ill): Sunday, Sept. 8 – Monday, Sept. 9
The 2024-25 NIU Women’s Golf team will begin their season this weekend as they travel to compete at the ISU Redbird Invitational in Normal, Illinois. The Huskies will play 54 holes between Sunday and Monday. The Huskies welcome five newcomers to the program, including one graduate transfer.