Competing for the World Cup for the U.S. Women’s National Team is an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime experience, but for NIU women’s soccer head coach Marci Miller Jobson, it’s a bittersweet deal.

Miller Jobson has yet to play in the World Cup for the Women’s National Team, but she is enjoying her experience, according to her husband, Paul Jobson, associate NIU women’s soccer head coach.

“She’s excited but she misses the girls and the games here,” Jobson said. “She’s a little torn trying to be in two places at once. She wants to win the world championship, but as soon as that’s done, she’ll be real excited to be back at Northern.”

According to Jobson, his wife wakes up in the middle of the night to check on how her team is doing back at home and she is proud of what she sees.

“She’s been excited about the results and the defensive effort,” Jobson said. “She’s real impressed with the consistency of the girls and how some of the young girls have stepped up.”

Starting conference

NIU women’s soccer will be preparing for conference with the same approach they’ve been taking all year.

“Now is the time when you’re either prepared or you’re not and I feel that we’re prepared,” Jobson said. “We’re not perfect, but we’ve had an opportunity to grow. We don’t have anything we really need to change, just some fine-tuning.”

It has been an overall team contribution this season. Junior transfer Jestina Orlando leads the team in scoring with three goals, but the defense has combined to produce a MAC-leading four shutouts in seven matches.

NIU also leads the MAC in goals against average and ranks 15th in the country (.40).

“It’s been an overall team effort,” Jobson said. “It’s been a wide mix of everyone contributing and as a coach that’s exciting because everything is not all riding on one person’s shoulders. You can go to anyone at anytime.”