DeKalb — Delaney Loprieno, women’s soccer redshirt junior defender and midfielder, made the transition from attacking midfielder to defender look seamless, and has been a consistent presence for the Huskies.

Loprieno has started in all 17 games this year and has played 1,302 minutes, the fifth-most minutes on the team. These are also the most games and minutes Loprieno has played in her collegiate career. Those numbers have a chance to go up with the team’s last regular season game Thursday.

Q: You’re 17 games into the season. It’s the most games you’ve played in your college career, and it’s the most minutes you’ve played since you’ve been at NIU. How’s your body feeling after playing the most you have in awhile?

A: It’s good. The more I play, the more normal it feels. Like after my injury, like you said this is the longest I’ve played. Before I was timid, and it felt a little weird playing, but now I go into tackles harder than I ever have. I feel stronger than I ever have. I mean, my body’s sore, but structurally it feels better than it ever has.

Q: I noticed you wear a brace on your knee. Is that just for comfort?

A: I dislocated my knee a lot, so that brace is designed to hold it in place. Some doctors say you don’t need it and that it’s in my head, but I think I’ll wear it until I’m done playing because I don’t want to have another knee injury.

Q: I actually dislocated my knee a couple months ago, and they told me I should be on crutches, but I didn’t feel like I needed them. Everyone’s different though, so how long did it take for you to heal from those injuries?

A: I also shattered my knee and tore some stuff. I had three surgeries because of it. I was out almost four years. At first, they thought it was just dislocated, and they were like ‘Oh you can play in a week or so once it goes back in,’ but it wasn’t that.

Q: How long ago was that?

A: The first time I injured my knee was my sophomore year of high school, and my last surgery was the July before I came to NIU.

Q: Earlier in the season, we talked about you switching positions from attacking midfielder to a defender. Now that we’re toward the end of the season, how do you think you’ve settled into the different position?

A: I moved up a little bit, so now I’m a defensive holding midfielder. Which is more of like what I played, so it feels more normal. But definitely since I’ve come here, my defense has gotten so much better. In high school, I never played defense, and now I’m most confident when I’m defending. It definitely changed me and made me better.

Q: When you say it changed, did you get more of an appreciation for the position?

A: Oh, yeah for sure. I told my dad after the games, when you lose and you’re on offense, it doesn’t hurt as bad as when you’re on defense. One time, one of the balls went right past me and went into the goal, and I’m like ‘Oh, the whole game’s my fault now.’ If I’m on offense and I miss a goal, I don’t think that. You also don’t get the praise you get as a forward or midfielder, so I definitely have a strong appreciation for defensive positions that I never would have even thought before.

Q: So, I’ve talked to a couple of your teammates and found out some interesting things about them. Haley loves Harry Potter, Natalia still watches Spongebob Squarepants and Amy raps. What is it about you?

A: (laughs) Oh gosh. I’m the easy target. Everyone picks on me. I don’t know why. My roommates locked me in my room downstairs. I live in the basement with Natalia, Allie and Taylor upstairs.

Q: Why do they lock you in the basement like that?

A: Honestly, I don’t know. I just get picked on.

Q: Has it been that way your entire life, or did it just start when you got to college?

A: No, it’s been my whole life. I got like a million nicknames. They say I look like a lemur.

Q: How would you describe your role on the team?

A: I definitely think I bring fun to the team because soccer’s my passion. I love it, and it makes me happy no matter what is happening, so I always try to remind everyone to have fun when they’re playing.

Q: It’s the last game of the regular season Thursday. The team’s been shut out in its last two games. Where are you at right now, mentally, as a team?

A: We played down to the level of the teams we played. In the weeks leading up, we’ve been playing better soccer, we’ve been connecting, and that just wasn’t there this weekend. I think we’re all going to come back stronger on Thursday than we did at the beginning of the season.

Q: What do you need to do as a team to get the victory Thursday against Western Michigan?

A: I think we need to play hard and play confident and know that we can beat that team. We need to play creative soccer, go into tackles. We need to do everything we’ve learned how to do this whole year and put it all together. On Thursday we have to want it, and I think everyone wants it.

The Huskies will face the Western Michigan University Broncos 2 p.m. Thursday at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex.