The NIU women’s soccer team returns home this weekend to continue MAC play at the Huskie Soccer Field.

The Huskies open this weekend’s competition against Kent State (3-5-1, 1-1) today at 2 p.m. and host Buffalo (3-6-1, 0-2) Sunday at 11 a.m. NIU looks to bounce back from the loss at Toledo last weekend.

“Coming off the loss on Sunday the girls are still hungry,” said associate head coach Paul Jobson. “They’re not down. They’re not depressed about it. The great thing is, they’re a young team, but they’re mature enough to know we’ve got to put Sunday behind us and move on.”

The Huskies (4-3-2, 1-1), won both of last season’s match-ups against Kent State, once in the regular season and once in the MAC tournament to advance to the championship game.

NIU is 3-7 all-time against Buffalo including a 2-1 loss last season at the hands of the Bulls.

“We‘re looking at two tough games again and look to come out and hopefully come away with two victories,” said senior forward Karen Enockson. “Both are good teams and they’re both going to be tough and fight hard, so we just have to want it more and play better.”

Enockson is tied for fourth in the MAC with four goals on the season and the Huskies are still among the MAC leaders in fewest goals allowed.

Regardless of their opponents’ records, the Huskies will be ready for anything. In last season’s match-up against the Bulls, NIU dominated the whole game, but the Bulls still came out on top, Jobson said.

“In the MAC anything can happen. You can throw records out the window,” Jobson said. “We got to be on or game. We got to play like we know we can and the game will take care of itself.”