The NIU women’s soccer club put itself back over the .500 mark with impressive play against Illinois State and Valparaiso last Saturday and Sunday.

With a home victory over Illinois State and a tie on the road with Valparaiso, the team’s record is now 3-2-3. The Huskies’ next match is this weekend when the team travels to St. Louis to play Merrimac and Flo. Valley.

NIU started the balmy weekend with a match Saturday against ISU and struck first when Rachael Schneider scored on a corner kick early in the first period.

ISU evened the match at one when Jan Wagner scored on an open net right before the end of the first half.

In the second half, the Huskies battled through the much more tiresome and slower-paced game with a diving header by Debbie Vickers to take a 2-1 lead.

Although the Redbirds made a good attempt toward a comeback, the Huskies captured a lead they would never look back on for the deciding 2-1 victory.

This victory was important because it put the team back on track after last week’s loss to Illinois and tie to Purdue.

The Huskies next battled Valparaiso on Sunday and played catch up most of the game as the Crusaders came out strong in the first half, scored two goals and established an early lead.

But NIU came back as Kim Kuszynk and Laura Santoro scored the next two goals for the Huskies that tied the game.

The Crusaders marched back and scored their third goal with only eight minutes left in the game. Within 30 seconds of Valparaiso’s goal, NIU’s Vickers scored the tying goal, which is how the game ended.

“We started off slow in the first half, but we got it together in the second half and set the pace of the game,” said NIU head coach Vlada Jevremovic.