This Week in Huskie Athletics, Northern Illinois University will have six teams in action as NIU celebrates its 117th Homecoming. NIU football will look for their third straight win as they host Toledo on Saturday, Oct. 19. NIU volleyball will take on Eastern Michigan on Thursday before taking on CMU on Friday. NIU men’s soccer will kick off at the NIU Soccer Complex on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Evansville. NIU women’s soccer will face Eastern Michigan on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Huskies lone match this week. NIU women’s golf will begin the Jim West Challenge on Sunday, Oct. 20 in San Marcos, Texas. NIU cross country will compete on Friday at the Bradley Pink Invitational.

Football

Saturday, Oct. 19: vs Toledo, 2:30 p.m. –   Watch On ESPN+ | Live Stats

The NIU football team looks to extend its current winning streak on Saturday when it hosts the Toledo Rockets at 2:30 p.m. at Huskie Stadium for NIU’s 117th Homecoming. The Huskies have won their last two games after a 17-7 win at Bowling Green last week. NIU scored 11 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come back and win its first MAC game of the year. The NIU defense held Bowling Green to 205 yards of total offense, more than 180 less than the Falcons’ season average. Skyler Gill-Howard was named MAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after setting career-highs with six tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. NIU held Bowling Green to 1-for-12 on third down and now leads the nation in third down defense at 20.5 percent. Since 2011, NIU has outscored Toledo by eight points in 13 meetings. A full preview will be available on NIUHuskies.com later this week.

Volleyball

Thursday, Oct. 17: at Eastern Michigan, 5 p.m. CT – ESPN+ | Live Stats

Friday, Oct. 18: at Central Michigan, 5 p.m. CT –   ESPN+ |  Live Stats

After a four game homestand, the Northern Illinois University Huskies volleyball team hits the road for a three game road trip to Michigan. The Huskies will take on Eastern Michigan on October 17 before facing Central Michigan on October 18. Both games are set for 5 p.m. CT.

The Huskies earned the first Mid-American Conference win of the season on October 10, sweeping Kent State inside Victor E. Court. The Huskies then fell to Ohio on October 11 in a three-set match. Crew Hoffmeier is eighth in the nation for digs per set and in the top-25 in the nation for total digs. Charli Atiemo added 27 kills in last week’s action to move herself to 935 career kills.

Men’s Soccer

Saturday, October 19: vs. Evansville, 7 p.m. –   Live Video | Live Stats | Free Admission

Huskie men’s soccer will wrap-up Homecoming Saturday night as NIU welcomes Evansville to DeKalb for a 7 p.m. kickoff at the NIU Soccer Complex. The Huskies are coming off a narrow, 2-1 setback against 14th-ranked Western Michigan this past Saturday (Oct. 12). Sam Divis tied the game with his first collegiate goal in the 68th minute but, six minutes from full time, the Broncos netted a second to claim the victory.

Evansville enters the week with a 6-5-1 mark, 2-2 in league play, and the Purple Aces travel to Louisville on Wednesday before visiting DeKalb.

Women’s Soccer

Friday, Oct. 18: vs Eastern Michigan, 1 p.m.  – Live Video |  Live Stats | Free Admission

The Northern Illinois University women’s soccer team will be back in action on Friday as the Huskies host Eastern Michigan.

Last week the Huskies took down Kent State at home on Thursday by a score of 2-1 after goals from Julianna Hill and Reegan Kingpavong. NIU then tied Akron on the road on Sunday and got a halftime buzzer beating goal from Sophia White and Tyra King’s 7th goal of the season. That marks the most for a Huskie since 2021

EMU will enter the game 5-5-4 and 1-2-4 in MAC play after tying WMU on Sunday.

Women’s Golf

Sunday, Oct. 20 – Monday, Oct. 21: at Kissing Tree Golf Course (San Marcos, TX) –

The Northern Illinois University Huskies women’s golf team concludes action during the fall season at the Jim West Challenge, beginning on October 20. The Huskies were last in action at the Illini Women’s Invitational at Medinah, October 7-8. Emma Thorman shot a 69 in the third round of the tournament to land in the NIU record book for lowest 18-hole round while Caroline Kent led the Huskies on the leaderboard.

Cross Country

Friday, Oct. 18: at Bradley Pink Classic –  Live Stats

The NIU cross country team returns to action on Friday as it travels to Peoria, Ill., to compete in the Bradley Pink Classic on the Newman Golf Course. The meet will represent the second time this season that the Huskies have competed in a six-kilometer race, with the first coming at Illinois State’s Redbird Invite where Camille Jackson led the way with a time of 23:22.2. Last time out, NIU competed at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invite where Bailey Wilk led the way with a time of 19:11.7 over five kilometers. That was the second time Wilk has paced the Huskies this year as she also led the way at the NIU Huskie Opener.

Friday’s competition will be the final meet for the Huskies before the MAC Championship, which will be hosted by Ball State on Saturday, Nov. 2.