An unexpected story emerged this semester, as the NIU women’s soccer team had the most successful season of all of the fall sports.

After an up-and-down, roller-coaster start, NIU finished its last six games with a 5-0-1 record. Overall, the Huskies finished the season 10-5-5, their best record since 1998.

NIU rode a six-game unbeaten streak into the semifinals of the MAC Tournament. In that game the Huskies battled for 110 scoreless minutes with conference champion Toledo, only to fall 4-3 on penalty kicks.

While others may have overlooked their potential, the Huskies knew all along what they were capable of doing and they proved that.

-Derrick Smith

If there is one sport that NIU is known for most, it’s football.

And the coach who took the NIU football program from cellar-dweller to perennial MAC power is Joe Novak. The 12-year head coach’s retirement was by far the biggest sports story of the year and gained national attention.

After the Huskies broke their 22-game losing streak in 1998, Novak resurrected the program to seven straight winning seasons from 2000 to 2006 and helped the popularity of NIU as a whole in 2003 when his team beat BCS teams Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State, reaching as high as No. 10 in the Associated Press poll.

Because of the success of the program over the years, the head coaching vacancy has become the most sought-after job in the MAC.

-Brandon Mangia

This wasn’t the way Joe Novak envisioned he’d go out.

After leading NIU to a bowl game in two of the past three seasons, the Huskies fizzled out of the gates en route to a 2-10 record, its worst campaign since 1997. NIU had its chances at a respectable year but lost two games in which they had a lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Despite having 32 players suffer significant injuries, the Huskies kept competing, losing five games by single-digit margins. The toughest part of the schedule was back-to-back road games losses to Wisconsin and Toledo by a combined score of 114-24.

After that, the team came back with a win over Kent State and fought bowl-bound Navy to the final whistle, coming an onside kick away from a potential upset over Ball State during the year’s final game.

-Brandon Mangia

With every negative, there’s a positive.

The positive for the NIU football team was the play of junior defensive end Larry English and redshirt sophomore tailback Justin Anderson.

English was named MAC MVP despite playing for a team that went 2-10 and finished last in the MAC West. English led the league in sacks and, after next season, may become the next Huskie to experience success at the professional level.

Anderson, on the other hand, came into the season as the backup to Montell Clanton. When Clanton suffered a season-ending injury during the season’s second game, Anderson was called upon and ended the season with 1,245 rushing yards and caught a running back school-record 45 passes.

The Chicago native also became the ninth consecutive NIU running back to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark and was the only NIU back to stay healthy heading into the final game of the season.

-Brandon Mangia

With fresh faces populating both the men’s and women’s basketball team, there were lots of questions entering the season.

Everyone was wondering how first-year coach Ricardo Patton would fare in his debut season. Thus, all eyes were on the men’s team even as they struggled to an 0-6 start. There is light at the end of the tunnel however, as it has rebounded and beat both Lamar University and Air Force at home.

Outside of having to adapt to a new coach, the Huskies have also had to adapt to a new lineup, as starters Ryan Paradise and Cody Yelder both have been out of action.

Saturday’s game at Notre Dame University will be yet another test to see just how far the Huskies have come this season.

-Andy Pruski

It’s no secret that, as a whole, NIU athletics have had a down year thus far.

However, one bright spot occurred last week when the NIU wrestling team upset fifth-ranked Northwestern 22-19 in dual-meet competition. The Huskies’ two nationally ranked wrestlers – Duke Burk and Pat Castillo – picked up important victories and freshman Jake Smith beat a junior to propel NIU to one of its biggest wins in recent history.

Even more impressive is that the Huskies won the meet despite wrestling five freshmen. Some of the win can be attributed to the Huskies’ schedule. The wrestling season has been underway for only a little over a month, and NIU has already faced three opponents ranked in the top five without even beginning conference play yet.

-Brandon Mangia