Women’s soccer (2-11, 1-5 MAC) will face off against MAC-leading Ball State (10-2-2, 6-0 MAC) and Miami (Ohio) (9-4, 5-1 MAC) this weekend.

Ball State

The Cardinals are 6-0 in conference play for the first time in program history and will enter this weekend on a seven-game win streak. Freshman forward Abbie Boswell scored two goals in a 2-1 shootout against Ohio (4-9, 2-4 MAC) on Sunday. Boswell has scored seven goals on the season and averages 3.21 shots a game.

The Cardinals are leading the MAC in several categories, totaling 263 shots taken and 73 corner kicks already this season. They’ve fallen to just two teams all season.

Senior midfielder Chelsy Swackhamer is averaging 0.92 points a game for Ball State, racking up 14 on the season and has a chance to improve on those numbers this weekend.

The Huskies will be “working defensively” this week, said head coach John Ross.

“We need to get better defensively as a team. We have to be in the right positions organizationally to make it easier on everybody.”

The Cardinals have scored 74 percent of their goals in the second periods of games. They’ve also kicked 60 percent of their corner kicks in final periods. The team averages 18.8 shots-per-game through 14 games compared to the Huskies’ 11.4.

The game will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

Miami

The Huskies will end the weekend against Miami (Ohio). The Redhawks defeated Kent State 1-0 in overtime in their last game.

Miami ranks as one of the most efficient teams in the MAC. It is second in conference standings despite taking the least number of shots of any team on the season.

Junior goalkeeper Vic Maniaci, who has six shutouts on the season, has a chance to make an impact against a Huskies team that has already been shut out twice. Maniaci is one of the MAC’s leading goalkeepers, saving 87.3 percent of shots on goal attempted this season.

The Redhawks have allowed just eight goals from opponents this season and are averaging around 10.5 shots a game.

The game will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the NIU Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

The Huskies have lost five-straight games and are still winless on the road, dropping their last six away from home.

With just two wins on the season, NIU is off to its worst start since 2011-12. The team has scored one goal or less in 10 of its 13 games, and has two losing streaks of at least five games. The Huskies are 2-4-0 at home and are 1-5-0 in conference play.

NIU ranks last in all MAC standings, and all five of its remaining games are against conference opponents. The team could match its win total from last season with wins in all five games.