NIU women’s soccer coach Frank Horvat says his team is playing the best soccer of the season so far despite its current record.

The Huskies (1-7-1, 1-4 in MAC) will try to turn things around when they begin the second half of their season Friday at Buffalo. They will return home to play Eastern Michigan Sunday.

To qualify for the postseason, the Huskies will have to finish the regular season in the top eight. Right now the team is 12th out of 13 teams in the MAC.

“That’s been one of our goals to get into the top eight,” Horvat said. “We’ve dug ourself a little bit of a hole, but it’s still in our hands. We don’t have to rely on other people yet.”

Buffalo (5-5, 4-2 in MAC) is currently in second place in the conference. They defeated the Huskies 4-0 in last year’s meeting. The Huskies and Bulls have split the first four games of the series.

“Buffalo’s the defending regular season champions from last year,” Horvat said. “They graduated quite a few upperclassmen, so they’re a bit young.”

Eastern Michigan (6-4, 1-3 in MAC) is currently one spot ahead of the Huskies in the standings. They won last year’s meeting 5-1. Becca Bleyer had the only Huskie goal.

“[Eastern Michigan] is one of the top two or three teams in our conference, although their record is not showing it,” Horvat said. “We are going to have our hands full.”

The Huskies are 2-3 lifetime against the Eagles.

Horvat says the strategy will be the same for both teams.

“We’re going to have to play the best defense we’ve played all year and we definitely have to finish on our good chances,” he said. “We’re a good enough team that we’re creating things and we’re fighting and working hard, but now we’ve got to dig even deeper. It’s more of a confidence issue right now.”

The Huskies are also fighting injuries. Courtney Lewis and Jill Heikkila may be lost for the season. Heikkila had an MRI on her left knee Wednesday.

Jane Mucci, Ilene Weinstein and Tiffany Anderson are day-to-day.

Becca Bleyer is only one point shy of 50 points for her NIU career. Five other NIU players have reached the mark, including Mucci.