Things are clicking at the right time for the NIU women’s soccer team.

The Huskies swept the last two home games of the season over the weekend; topping Miami (OH) 2-1 and taking down Bowling Green 1-0.

Against the RedHawks on Friday, the Huskies (9-7-1 overall, 5-4-1 MAC) came out firing, getting goals from Shelbi Johnson and Frances Boukidis within the first 10 minutes of the game.

Thoroughly outplayed in the first half, Miami (11-6-1, 4-4-1 MAC) turned its game completely around in the second half, ripping 17 shots over the course of the frame.

While the shots were coming fast against NIU goalkeeper Amy Carr, the RedHawks were only able to dent the twine once when senior Rachel Byron connected on a penalty kick.

After the game, NIU head coach Carrie Barker liked how her team stayed with the game plan.   

“We came out early and got some great goals,” Barker said. “In the second, they had a lot of shots, but we did what we had to do and kept them out of our net.”

Sunday’s game against Bowling Green (4-11-4, 2-5-3 MAC) featured just as many shots as Friday’s. The shots against the Falcons, however, were of the physical nature. The only offensive showing from either team came in the 59th minute when NIU’s Kelsey Passaglia broke past the defense to notch her fourth goal of the season.

Bowling Green head coach Andy Richards did not have a problem with the physical play because he came into the game expecting it. 

“Coach Barker has a good program here, so we knew it would be a tough one,” Richards said. “In soccer, games are usually decided by one little thing, and the goal out there today proved that. We lost that one physical battle and let a goal in as a result.”

Due to the physical play, NIU defender Kayra Thompson knew the Huskies couldn’t afford to let up for even one minute. 

“It was a hard fought game,” Thompson said. “We came out strong and had to battle the whole game. It wasn’t a 45 minute game. We had to battle for the entire 90 minutes.”