Coming off a hard-fought loss to South Dakota State in overtime, the NIU women’s soccer team looks to pull back above .500 against an in-state rival.

The Huskies will head to Normal to take on Illinois State (0-1-1) at 4 p.m. Friday.

“Our in-state games are our most exciting to play,” said NIU assistant coach Paul Jobson. “And Illinois State is one of our biggest rivals.”

NIU is coming off a weekend where it played hard but could only muster a 1-1 record.

The Huskies shut out Eastern Washington 4-0 to get the season off to a good start. But two days later, NIU fell into a 0-2 hole against SDSU. The team managed to tie the game, but eventually lost in an extra period.

After an up-and-down weekend, Jobson hopes his team can gain a little bit more consistency.

“They are still on a learning curve and the past few games we’ve done pretty well,” Jobson said. “I just like them to be relaxed and enjoy the game when they’re out there.”

NIU will finish off the Labor Day weekend with a holiday game against Creighton (1-1) at noon here in DeKalb.

Jennifer Novielli is a Sports Reporter for the Northern Star.