This Week in Huskie Athletics
This Week in Huskie Athletics Northern Illinois University will have six teams in action. NIU football will head to Raleigh to take on NC State at 11 a.m. on Saturday. NIU volleyball travels to Toledo for MAC play on Friday and Saturday. NIU Men’s soccer hosts Milwaukee for the Lewang Trophy at 7 p.m. on Tuesday before hosting UIC on Saturday. NIU women’s soccer continues MAC play at home against CMU before a weekend visit to Buffalo on Sunday. NIU men’s golf begins a tournament hosted by Wisconsin on Sunday while NIU women’s golf opens a tournament in Iowa on Monday, Sept. 30.
Football
Saturday, Sept. 28 at NC State, 11 a.m. – Watch on CW | Listen | Live Stats
The NIU football team heads to the state capital of North Carolina this week to face the NC State Wolfpack. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. CT with the game being televised on The CW. It is the second meeting all-time between NIU and NC State with the first coming in 1997. The Huskies are coming off a 23-20 overtime loss to Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference opener last Saturday at Huskie Stadium. Antario Brown rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns, moving into 12th place on the NIU career rushing yards list with 2,764. Junior defensive end Nevaeh Sanders became the first Huskie in six years to have three quarterback sacks in a game. NIU is one of nine teams in the FBS to be in the top-20 of both total offense and total defense and is the only Group of 5 program among those teams. NC State is 2-2 on the year after a 59-35 loss at Clemson last week. Saturday’s game marks the third time NIU faces a former Huskie head coach with Dave Doeren on the Wolfpack sideline. Doeren was the head coach at NIU from 2011-12, going 23-4 and leading the Huskies to two MAC titles. A full preview is available on NIUHuskies.com later this week.
Volleyball
Friday, Sept. 27 at Toledo, 5 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 28 at Toledo, 3 p.m. ESPN+ | Live Stats
The Huskies open Mid-American Conference action this week, as they travel to the University of Toledo on Sept. 27-28. Heading into this weekend’s series, the Huskies hold a 51-16 series lead over the Rockets. The Rockets, however, have won five of the last eight meetings between the teams.
Senior libero Crew Hoffmeier leads the Mid-American Conference in digs per set with 5.36. Hoffmeier is ranked fifth among all-active NCAA Division I volleyball players for digs per set. As a team, the Huskies are fourth in the nation for team attacks per set, averaging 39.64. Charli Atiemo is third in the conference for hitting percentage, sitting at .364 while Ava Grevengoed sits at third for service aces per set (.45). Sophie Hurt is in the top-10 for assists per set in the conference with 5.83.
Men’s Soccer
Tuesday, September 24: vs. Milwaukee, 7 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats | Free Admission
Saturday, September 28: vs. UIC, 7 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats | Free Admission
The Huskie men’s soccer team will be at home for a pair of games this week, beginning with its final non-conference match of the season, the annual Lewang Cup matchup against Milwaukee on Tuesday night. NIU will then resume conference play as the Huskies host local rival UIC on Saturday night, both matches are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
Kevin Kelly and Jose Gomez are tied for the team lead with five points, Kelly has two goals and one assist while Gomez has one goal and three assists. Milwaukee comes into Tuesday’s contest with a 2-1-3 overall record after playing to a 3-3 tie against Wright State this past Saturday (Sept. 21). UIC is 4-4-0 overall following a 3-1 setback at home against Missouri State.
Women’s Soccer
Thursday, Sept. 26 vs Central Michigan, 1 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats | Free Admission
Sunday, Sept. 29 at Buffalo, 12 p.m. – Watch | Live Stats
NIU women’s soccer continues MAC Play this week as the Huskies host Central Michigan at 1 p.m. on Thursday. NIU closes the weekend with a road trip to Buffalo at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
Last week the Huskies opened MAC play with two ties, a 1-1 tie at Miami and a 0-0 rain filled draw against Ohio on Sunday. Tyra King scored the Huskies goal in Thursday’s tie. Ary Purifoy earned her fourth clean sheet of the year in Sunday’s match against Ohio.
NIU hasn’t been defeated since the Sept. 5 match at #9 Notre Dame and holds an overall record of 6-1-3.
Men’s Golf
Sunday, Sept. 29 – Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Badger Invitational
The NIU men’s golf team heads north to Madison, Wis. for the Badger Invitational starting Sunday. The Huskies finished 13th at the Purdue Fall Invitational last week. Senior Felix Krammer had his best finish of the fall, tying for 13th at even par with a 54-hole score of 216. Krammer played the final 36 holes at three-under par, posting a two-under par 70 in the second round. NIU, as a team, posted its lowest 18-hole score of the year in the second round at Purdue with a one-over par 289. The Huskies tied for ninth at last year’s event at Wisconsin. Krammer tied for fourth at five-under par, earning MAC Golfer of the Week honors.
Women’s Golf
Monday, Sept. 30- Tuesday, Oct. 1 at Diane Thomason Invitational, hosted by the University of Iowa
The Huskies are set to compete at the Diane Thomason Invitational, hosted by the University of Iowa. The Huskies will face the University of Iowa, UAB, SIU, UTSA, Drake, Montana State, Wisconsin, Missouri State, Southern Mississippi, North Dakota State, Bowling Green, and Oklahoma City University at the two-day tournament which will take place at the Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa.
In their last tournament, Alexa Ouellet and Emma Thorman led the Huskies at the Mary Fossum Invitational as the Northern Illinois University women’s golf team took 12th at the tournament. Mia Raines led the Huskies in the first round, shooting two over par (74) while Thorman carded a 75 in the first round. Ouellet led the Huskies in the second and third rounds with a 73 in the second round and 75 in the third round. Raines recorded the only eagle of the tournament for the Huskies.