This Week in Huskie Athletics NIU will have eight teams in action. The 23rd ranked NIU football team will be back in action as the Huskies host Buffalo at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21. NIU volleyball takes on Northwestern on the road on Wednesday before hosting the Wildcats in the Convocation Center at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20. NIU women’s soccer opens up MAC play at Miami on Thursday before hosting Ohio at 1 p.m. on Sunday. NIU Men’s soccer travels to take on Western Illinois at 5 p.m. on Friday. NIU men’s golf competes in the Purdue Fall invitational starting Sunday. NIU women’s golf competes at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Mich. also starting Sunday.  NIU men’s tennis competes in Toledo starting Friday. NIU women’s tennis begins their fall campaign at the Minnesota Gophers Invitational starting Friday while Erika Dimitriev will begin competition at the ITA All-American Championships starting Saturday.

Saturday, Sept. 21 vs Buffalo, 2:30 p.m. –  Watch On ESPN+ |  Live Stats

The #23 NIU football team returns to Huskie Stadium to open Mid-American Conference play against the Buffalo Bulls Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Huskies are coming off a historic 16-14 win at then-#5 Notre Dame on Sept. 7, NIU’s first win ever against a team ranked in the Associated Press Top 10. It was also the first win for a MAC program against an AP Top Five ranked opponent. The Huskies swept the MAC weekly awards on Sept. 9 with Antario Brown earning MAC Offensive Player of the Week, Devonte O’Malley MAC Defensive Player of the Week and Cade Haberman MAC Co-Special Teams Player of the Week. O’Malley was also the Bronko Nagurski National Defensive Player of the Week after his three tackles for loss and two sacks against the Fighting Irish. The Huskies won the last meeting against Buffalo 33-27 in overtime at Buffalo in 2021. The Bulls are 2-1 on the season after a 34-3 win over UMass on Saturday. A full preview will be available on NIUHuskies.com later this week.

Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Northwestern, 7 p.m. –   B10+ ($) | Live Stats

Friday, Sept. 20 vs Northwestern, 6 p.m. –   ESPN+ |  Live Stats

Ending the non-conference schedule, the Northern Illinois University Huskies will take on the Northwestern University Wildcats in a home-and-home series this week. The Huskies travel to Northwestern on Sept. 18 for a 7 p.m. game before returning to the Convocation Center on Sept. 20. The Sept. 20 game will be the Huskies “Alumni Night” and fans are encouraged to wear black as we try to break the NIU Convocation Center record for volleyball attendance.

The Huskies were 1-2 at the Art Carmichael Invitational, defeating Stony Brook University in four sets on the final day of the tournament. Charli Atiemo was named to the All-Tournament team and led the Huskies with 43 kills over the tournament. Ava Grevengoed recorded her fifth and sixth double-doubles at the invite. Crew Hoffmeier leads the nation in digs per set as of September 16 at 5.72 digs per set.

Thursday, Sept. 19 at Miami, 6 p.m. – Watch |  Live Stats

Sunday, Sept. 22 vs Ohio, 1 p.m. –   Watch | Live Stats

The Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team will open up Mid-American Conference play this week. NIU will travel to Oxford, Ohio on Thursday to take on Miami before hosting Ohio at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the NIU Soccer Complex.

This year the Huskies have been led in scoring by Tyra King who has scored five goals and earned four assists. Newcomer Kelsi McLaughlin scored four times and posted two assists. Senior Captain Lea Gruennagel has scored and assisted twice while being critical to the Huskies defense. Ary Purifoy has earned a record of 5-1-1 and allowed just six goals in seven matches while posting three clean sheets.

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.

Friday, Sept. 20 at Western Illinois, 5 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats

Coming off a 1-0 victory over Mercyhurst on Monday (Sept. 16), the NIU men’s soccer team travels to Macomb on Friday evening for a matchup against Western Illinois. Taylor Davis scored just 26 seconds into the contest against the Lakers to give NIU a 1-0 victory, snapping Mercyhurst’s three-match win streak. The goal was the second of the season for Davis, who is tied with Kevin Kelly for the team lead.

Western Illinois brings a 3-3-1 record into Friday’s matchup after winning at Gonzaga, 3-2, this past Sunday (Sept. 15). The Huskies and Leathernecks met in the season opener a year ago, with Dylan Banker netting the lone goal in a 1-0 NIU victory.

Sunday, Sept. 22 – Monday, Sept. 23 at Purdue Fall Invitational

The NIU men’s golf team is back in action Sunday and Monday at the Purdue Fall Invitational. The Huskies finished 15th at the Gopher Invitational Sept. 8-9, their second event of the fall slate. Sophomore Craig Long was NIU’s top finisher, tying for 27th at seven-over par. Long opened the tournament with a two-under par 69, his lowest round of the season so far. The Huskies finished eighth at last year’s Purdue Fall Invitational. Ben Sluzas tied for 12th at even par.

Sunday, Sept. 22 – Monday, Sept. 23 at Mary Fossum Invitational (East Lansing, Mich.) –Scores

The Huskie women’s golf team returns to the course on Sept. 22 to 23 as they compete at the Mary Fossum Invitational in East Lansing, Michigan.

The Huskies finished in a tie for fifth in their season-opening tournament as Alexa Ouellet led the Huskies with a top-15 finish. Ouellet shot seven over par for the entire tournament, while going two under par in the second round. Three Huskies were in the top-20 at the event as the Huskies tallied 36 birdies, including an eagle from Jóhanna Lúðvíksdóttir.

Friday, Sept. 20 – Sunday, Sept. 22 at Toledo Invitational

The Huskies fall season continues as they travel to Toledo to compete in the Toledo Invitational this weekend

Last week the Niu men’s tennis team opened their fall season hosting the River Forest Collegiate Tennis Invitational. Iker Gaztambide Arrastia (Pamplona, Spain) claimed the #1 singles championship on Saturday. The weekend was also highlighted by a #2 doubles championship from Saul Berdullas and Sam Klein and a #3 doubles championship from newcomers Gus Howard (Mexico City, Mexico) and Chao Bu Suo Nan (Taiwan).

Friday, Sept. 20 – Sunday, Sept. 22 at Minnesota Gophers Invitational

Saturday, Sept. 21 – Sunday, Sept. 29 at ITA All-American Championship

NIU women’s tennis opens up their fall season this weekend at the Minnesota Gophers Invitational. The team brings in four newcomers in 2024 and returns six members of last season’s team. Last spring the Huskies finished 16-10 in dual play.

Senior Erika Dimitriev will be headed to Cary, N.C. to represent the Huskies at the ITA All-American Championship.  Dimitriev went 11-11 in spring singles play while competing at No. 1 and No. 2 singles.