As the only remaining member of both NIU’s 1997 and 1998 Mid-American Championship teams, Jane Mucci wanted a chance to compete for a third. To do so, the NIU women’s soccer team needed to win both of its matches over the weekend to have a chance.

Mucci will not get that chance after the Huskies’ 2-1 loss against Ohio on Friday, as the Huskies have been eliminated from playoff contention.

“I think tommorrow or later when I start thinking about it, I’ll realize that I’m done and we can’t win another MAC championship,” the fifth-year senior said after the game.

At 7:47, Ohio’s Nicki Pendleton was awarded a penalty shot after being fouled in the penalty area. Her shot beat Huskie goalkeeper Katy Boll at the left side of the net giving the Bobcats a 1-0 lead.

The Bobcats took a 2-0 lead when Crystal Reed heading in a centering pass from Pendleton following a corner kick.

Thirty-seven seconds later, NIU’s Katie Klaas manuevered around the Bobcat defense and scored off a shot from center to bring the Huskies within one.

With 14:23 to go in the match, Ohio defender Jennifer Wright was redcarded after committing her second excessive foul of the game. As a result, the Huskies had a one-man advantage for the remainder of the game but couldn’t take advantage of it.

“It’s very hard,” Coach Frank Horvat said about the team being eliminated from playoff contention. “We had some good chances to scored. We scored one, we had a couple of other chances to score more.”

One of those opportunities was a Klaas header that sailed wide of the net shortly after her first goal.

The Huskies didn’t fare any better on Sunday, losing their final MAC match of the season, 4-1 to Marshall.

Marshall’s Danielle Lowther scored off a centering pass from Sarah Gupton at 14:05. Two minutes before halftime, Lauren Scott fired a corner kick over the head of Boll to give the Thundering Herd a 2-0 halftime lead.

Marshall scored the first two goals of the second half even though it was going against the wind.

Amanda McMahon scored an empty net goal at 51:16 after beating Boll to a loose ball outside the six-yard box. Twelve minutes later, Lowther scored her second goal of the game tapping in a centering pass from Erin Locy giving the Herd a 4-0 lead.

Less than 30 seconds later, Mucci scored the Huskies’ only goal, beating the Herd’s defense to a long pass from Kerry Walker.

The Huskies had other scoring chances in the second half. Mucci had a shot go wide of the net, Katie Kieffer tried to head in a centering pass and missed and Erica Hofferkamp had a shot go over the crossbar.

“That’s been our story all year,” Horvat said. “We struggle to get the ball between the pipes.”

With the Huskies out of the playoff picture, both Mucci and Horvat said the Huskies can only play for pride now.

“Now we’re playing for pure pride and improving our record and hopefully we can continue to move in that direction,” Horvat said.