At this time last year, the NIU women’s soccer team was in the midst of an eventual 3-15-1 season and was dead last in the MAC.

What a difference a year makes.

This year’s squad has surpassed last year’s win total in only seven games this season. The Huskies are 4-0-3 and broke the team’s all-time unbeaten streak in the process. They also joined the likes of North Carolina and Notre Dame as one of only 11 unbeaten teams in NCAA Division-I soccer.

“It’s nice to be compared to those teams,” NIU coach Frank Horvat said. “It’s nice to make history, but the real history we want to make is making it to the NCAA tournament.”

Aside from being in the company of powerhouse schools, other teams in the MAC are also noticing NIU.

“Frank [Horvat] has them believing they can compete in every game they play, and the players are responding,” Ball State coach Rob Rainey said.

Miami-Ohio coach Bobby Kramig also credits NIU’s confidence.

“They have gained confidence through their success this year, and we knew they would be a tough opponent,” he said.

All of this success has come after the Huskies lost eight seniors to graduation, including starting goalkeeper Leigh Steigerwald and leading scorer Denise Papke.

Defenseman Jamie Figura now represents the senior class for the 2004 Huskies but doesn’t think she is the only leader.

“There are two other captains on the team that are juniors who provide leadership too,” Figura said. “I don’t really think of myself as a leader. We all just play together really well and it has kept us up.”

This season’s results have not come as a surprise to Horvat, who saw a difference in the team months ago.

“It started last January. Our attitude got a lot better and the team started buying into what we were doing and committing to being better,” Horvat said. “We are in new territory now, and we are just going to try to keep doing what we’re doing.”