Women’s soccer will try to rebound from its first loss in MAC play as it takes on two of the conference’s top teams on the road.

The Huskies (5-7-2, 3-1-2 MAC) will battle the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (10-2-1, 4-1-1 MAC) 3 p.m. Friday in Miami, Ohio. They will then face the Ball State Cardinals (7-4-2, 3-3 MAC) 1 p.m. Sunday in Muncie, Ind. Miami (Ohio) and Ball State are the top two goal-scoring teams in the conference with 22 and 21 goals, respectively.

NIU is coming off a tough 1-0 loss to Akron, which ended its streak of five games without a loss. Senior Gwen Sabo expects the Huskies to come out with a chip on their shoulders.

“We’re definitely going to have a lot of energy coming into Friday because we have to redeem ourselves,” Sabo said. “We did not play our best, and we’re just going to use that energy to come out Friday and take it out on Miami.”

Miami (Ohio)

The RedHawks lost their first MAC game, but they have since rebounded and have been playing dominant soccer.

The RedHawks have only allowed one goal in their last five games.

Senior Kelsey Dinges leads the conference with eight goals and is second in the conference with four assists. Her goal-scoring skills should keep the Huskies on guard. NIU does have some experience with shutting down a team’s offensive threat; they kept Buffalo’s Katie Roberts off the score sheet.

The key for the Huskies will be to manufacture offense to go along with their strong defensive play. They’ve struggled to score consistently, but head coach John Ross said just getting one big goal will open the flood gates.

“The thing is we have had our opportunities,” Ross said. “We just [have to] make better decisions on the final pass, just get a break here [or there] where we can just slide and get a toe on the ball, get it in the net. Just one goal would go a long way.”

Ball State

The Cardinals have been inconsistent, but when they’re on they play like one of the top teams in the MAC.

The caveat is two of the Cardinals’ conference wins have come against the bottom two teams in the MAC West: Toledo and Central Michigan.

Ball State gets offensive production from everyone — five players have scored multiple goals — and its goal total shows.

NIU will have to set the tone early in both games, which could be a problem on the road. Freshman Lauren Gierman said the Huskies are preparing to be the aggressors.

“It’s definitely going to be a long bus [ride], but we just need to get our bodies back together, rest, drink a lot of water and hopefully come as strong as we did against Buffalo and the other teams that we’ve beaten or tied; just come out as strong as possible,” Gierman said.

The Huskies haven’t been known for their victories on road trips, but they’ve won several conference games while traveling this season.

“Generally, road games are not our strongest point, but I think we’ve already showed this year that we can clearly win on the road,” Sabo said. “Akron was just an exception because [at] Central [Michigan] and Toledo we dominated on the road.”

With only five games left, the Huskies are in a good position for postseason play. The top four teams in the MAC host the first playoff game, which, given NIU’s strong play at home, would give the team a good chance of making a run in the playoffs.