There is one more game remaining in the regular season for NIU women’s soccer and the Huskies are pushing to finish up the season strong.

NIU played to a split last weekend. The Huskies fell 3-1 to Miami Friday, but rebounded to defeat Ball State 1-0 on Senior Day Sunday afternoon.

Miami (6-10-1, 5-5) jumped on the board early, scoring in the game’s fourth minute. Mo Smunt tied the score at one in the game’s 16th minute off a pass from senior Thea Johnson.

The game was locked at one until the 69-minute mark when the RedHawks’ Eva Candia headed in the game-winning goal. Miami added one more score seven minutes later.

“We had moments where we had brilliant play, but after their second score, we started to lose focus,” said NIU head coach Carrie Barker.

The loss ended the Huskies’ five-game unbeaten streak, but NIU (9-4-5 overall, 5-3-2 MAC) bounced back to earn the victory on Senior Day.

“[Friday] was a really tough game, but we learned from it and came out today and we got the win,” Johnson said.

The Huskies had to battle strong winds on top of the Ball State defense to pull out a 1-0 victory over the Cardinals (8-9-1, 4-5-1).

“In every game, we encounter different conditions and today we encountered something we hadn’t seen all year,” Barker said. “The conditions were very strange this weekend.”

The two teams played a physical, scoreless first half, but NIU found the back of the net 10 minutes into the second half. Johnson scored her fifth goal of the year after a short scramble in front of the goal.

“It was almost impossible to play soccer today with the wind and weather, but [the goal] was just a team effort,” Johnson said. “We were battling in the box and it was just me that put it in.”

Johnson, along with Erin Fahey, Jestina Orlando and Jenna Clauson were honored as part of Senior Day. Johnson said it will be one they will always remember.

“It’s been a very emotional weekend but our underclassmen made it really memorable,” Johnson said. “We played tough and we’re happy we got three points out of the weekend.”

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