Under direction of coach Ray Gooden, the Huskies feel they are ready to bump the Lady Liberty Flames off their turf at 7 p.m. on Friday at Victor E. Court in the NIU Convocation Center at the Best Western Inn & Suites Invitational.

"I feel that the team is well prepared for the game against Liberty, and when we come out I hope that we will surprise everyone," junior Shara Parker said. "We have a young setter [freshman Kelly DeRoo] who still has a long way to go but is doing a great job for the team."

The game will be the season-opener for both teams. Liberty returns everyone and will return with two new members, freshmen Rachel Denton and Katie Smith.

"Liberty is going to come back experienced," Parker said. "As a team, our main goal for this game is to have a good, quality win to start off the season."

"Our team chemistry is a lot better and we are all clicking together at a younger stage than we were at this time last year," she added. "Last year it was hard because since [team chemistry clicked] later in the season we had to figure out how to win and finish things as we started."

The Huskies’ four new freshmen are April Hankton, Gina Guide, Kate McCullagh and DeRoo. In addition, the Huskies have two transfers, Corinne Walsh (South Florida) and Megan Markowski (Marquette).

Hankton, an outside hitter, said that she hopes to bring a lot of power to the front row this season. At the same time she wants to learn to be a leader.

"I have always been a quiet player and I want to change that; I want to lead," said Hankton, a Minnesota native.

Like all the freshmen, Hankton is excited for the game.

"I hope that we kill them," Hankton said. "Our defense is unbelievable and our coach is awesome so I know that we can do it. We can beat Liberty and it is going to be tough for them."

Hankton feels very confident about this season.

"I hope that we win the conference championship and I think that we can with our talent and athleticism," she said. "We have a good, powerful front row and our team is just awesome."

With the score tied 13 all, NIU quarterback Josh Haldi found Dan Sheldon for a 20 yard touchdown pass to put the Huskies up in overtime.

Then, on Maryland’s overtime possession, quarterback Scott McBrien tried to hit wide receiver Latrez Harrison near the goal line, but the ball ricocheted off NIU cornerback Rob Lee’s foot and into the hands of Huskie cornerback Randee Drew to seal the victory.

NIU coach Joe Novak called this "the biggest win of his career." This is the second year in a row that the Huskies have opened the season with an overtime win against an ACC opponent.

"From where we came from this win is just tremendous and the biggest one of my career," Novak said. This was the first sellout ever at Huskie Stadium, with 28,018 fans.

Before the end of regulation, NIU kicker Steve Azar had field goal blocked, which could have given the Huskies the win with only five seconds left.

Full game coverage in Tuesday’s Northern Star

Offered a basketball scholarship from NIU out of high school, Jonathan Byrd shunned the Huskies. Two years later, he’s on campus regretting he didn’t come to NIU before his nomadic journey began.

"Jonathan adds more depth to our front line and more size overall," NIU coach Rob Judson said.

A 6-foot-9, 221-pound post player, Byrd helped Morgan Park High School to a Chicago City Championship his senior year. After assisting his team to a third place finish at the Class AA State Tournament, Byrd was highly sought after by many Division I schools. He turned his back on such schools as Ball State, Illinois State and the Huskies and then-first-year head coach Rob Judson.

NIU was one of Byrd’s final three schools he considered before he committed to Louisiana Lafayette.

"I wanted to get away from home," said Byrd, who was rated as a top 20 player in the state as a senior. "I should’ve went here initially."

After experiencing a tumultuous freshman year with the Ragin’ Cajuns, Byrd transferred to Southwest Missouri State-West Planes Junior College. He made the move to a junior college to be eligible to play right away.

"There were some internal problems at Louisiana Lafayette," said Byrd, who has been on campus since Friday. "There was no senior leadership, and that folded down to the other players."

When Judson found out that Byrd was on the market again, and with the scholarship open from Jamel Staten’s departure (see box), he began the recruitment -- again.

"I felt comfortable with the NIU coaches," Byrd said. "It was like I already knew them."

It also helped in Byrd’s case that Judson and his staff were so cordial when Byrd let them know that he committed to Louisiana Lafayette. Byrd said he got hung up on last year by one junior college coach when he found out Byrd was committing to West Planes.

"Judson wished me luck back then, and I remembered that," Byrd said.

While he wanted to get away from home out of high school, Byrd now looks at being only an hour away from his home in Chicago as a plus. He expects his family to come to most of his games and enjoys seeing people on campus he grew up with.

"Just the other day, I saw my little cousin in Stevenson," Byrd said. "It’s refreshing and I feel more at home here."

Jamel Staten, a starter for the NIU basketball team for most of last year, has left NIU and enrolled at Minnesota State University, a Division II school.

NIU coach Rob Judson cited Staten’s need to get closer to home as a reason for the Minnesota native’s departure.

A 6-foot-6, 225-pound small forward, Staten would have been a junior this year. He combined size, with his muscular frame, and skill, as he was called one of the team’s best ball-handlers by the NIU coaching staff.

It is not the first time an NIU basketball player has gotten in over his head academically. But, according to NIU assistant coach Donald Whiteside, the case of Jamel Staten has been the only time he didn’t see the desire from a player to get back on the right track.

"Jamel and I developed a pretty close relationship," Whiteside said. "We didn’t ask Jamel to leave; we just asked him to show us that he wanted to be here."

Staten came to NIU two years ago as a freshman and showed much promise. He was the first freshman at NIU ever to play in all 28 games, and he started in 23 of them - the most since T.J. Lux during the 1995-’96 season.

As a sophomore, Staten’s points dropped about two points to 5.6 ppg.

Staten was unavailable for comment at press time.

"He’s with his wife to be closer to home and with his child," Whiteside said. "He’ll be a little more content and comfortable. Everybody knows that Jamel could’ve played a lot better, but he just had a lot on his mind."

Bruce Perry or not, the NIU football team is in for a world of trouble when Maryland brings its ground game to DeKalb on Thursday.

"Their D-line is outmatched and this offense is gonna pound them and pound them and pound them even more," former NIU football coach and current ESPN analyst Lee Corso said.

Granted, these are general lines plugged into EA Sports’ "NCAA Football 2004" memory, when 10 games between the Terps and Huskies were simulated (five without Perry as he’s unlikely to play because of an ankle injury).

Regardless of the different number of comments used before each game begins, this was the one Corso picked, and it’s not too far from reality.

NIU went 0-5 in five simulated games of "NCAA Football 2004" against a Bruce Perry-less Terrapin squad.

Maryland averaged 38 points and NIU countered with an average of three Steve Azar field goals.

The closest game was 41-27, in which Michael Turner ran 39 times for 220 yards. One play included a double-reverse pass by P.J. Fleck to Dan Sheldon.

The Burner will have to play the game of his life on Thursday if the Huskies want to beat Maryland. Forty carries and a few trick plays couldn’t hurt NIU’s offense if done with precision timing.

When Bruce Perry was in the Terps’ backfield, NIU went a surprising 2-3. A four-point margin, 35-31, was all that separated NIU from Maryland’s average score. Turner didn’t even run for 200 or more yards in any of the games.

Perry averaged 19 carries for 112.4 yards for the Terps during the five games, but never outrushed Turner.

Great, but there is a 99.9-percent chance Perry won’t even play Thursday. Terps’ sophomore Josh Allen will get the carries and his average of 112.2 yards over the five simulated games when Perry was absent exemplifies that Maryland isn’t all about its top running backs.

Maryland averaged 51 rushes over the 10 games, and used all three running backs in the process.

Vinson Reynolds, Travis Moore and Jason Frank will contain the outside at defensive end. It’s Maryland’s between-the-tackles game that will be the cause for major concern.

The Huskies are not deep at defensive tackle. The name of the game will be team football for NIU’s defense.

Huskie Stadium was at full capacity in the video game, as even the end zone seats were full. The end zone being jammed with fans isn’t realistic, but the rest of the stadium being packed is.

Bring the noise, Maryland. Video games aren’t real anyway.

NIU football’s Dan Sheldon races down the sideline and is downed by the ultra-quick Jacob Winter. Who, you ask?

Sheldon, NIU’s wide receiver/punt returner and running back Michael Turner lined up to play football on June 14. This time the players were not dodging 250-pound linebackers, but feisty 7-year olds.

"Jacob became a big fan last year because of the football team’s success," said Jacob’s father, Jim. "So we arranged for them to come to his birthday party,"

Jacob watched the Huskies defeat Wake Forest in his first NIU football game from the bleachers of Huskie Stadium. However, the bleachers did not bring Jacob close enough to the players.

Wolf Shafer, the son of NIU football defensive coordinator Scott Shafer, played baseball with Jacob’s older brother Josh last summer. So, Jim asked Scott Shafer if he would ask Sheldon and Turner to come to Jacob’s birthday party.

Sheldon, Turner and the rest of the NIU football squad had been conditioning Monday through Thursday in June. Being asked to go to a 7-year-old’s birthday party caught Sheldon off-guard.

"It was an odd request," Sheldon said. "We didn’t really know what to expect when we got there."

Jim measured off his backyard in five-yard increments. Half of a football field, end zone and all, was substituted for the Winter’s backyard. Field goal posts made of PVC pipe topped off the makeshift field. All that was missing were 18 7-year olds and two Huskie football players.

The 228-pound senior running back and 5-foot-11 junior wideout coached and quarterbacked each of the teams.

Sheldon said the game was like playing sandlot football when he was a kid.

"We ran trick plays like double-reverse passes," Sheldon said. "It was a lot of fun."

The punishing game of two-hand-touch football had taken its toll on two of the Huskies’ top offensive threats. Nevertheless, enough fuel remained in the players tanks after the game to autograph mini-footballs and take a picture with all the kids.

Each player’s success last season left an impression on Jacob, but Sheldon edged Turner out in the voting for Jacob’s favorite player.

"I like Dan Sheldon because he is really fast and because he returns punts," Jacob said.

Jacob believes NIU will do well this year, and is looking forward to seeing another victory in NIU’s season opener.

At the end of the day, the kids chased the players’ car down the street, waving goodbye as Sheldon and Turner headed back down the road to reality.

"I just can’t think of a way to thank these guys enough," Jim Winter said.

The 10th annual Alumnae SoccerFest kicked off at noon Saturday at Huskie Soccer Field.

The NIU women’s soccer team defeated the alumni 3-1 and the men’s team topped its elder counterparts 5-1.

Jill Heikkila and Angeline Impelido scored the only first-half goals for either team as the current Huskies led 2-0 at the break.

Freshman Megan Kolkay scored her first goal in a Huskie uniform. Kolkay’s shot into the back-left corner of the net extended the Huskies lead to three.

The alumna ended any thoughts of a shutout when Anna Marinaccio squeaked in a rebound for the score after Allison Wade’s shot was blocked.

The female alumna received no help from the officials, being called for four fouls to NIU’s six. The male alumni, on the other hand, were called for two penalties to NIU’s 19.

Sarah "Willy" Wilkins, who played at NIU from 1995 through ‘98, came back to play because she never lost her passion for the game.

"It’s always good to get out here and see if the team chemistry is still there," Wilkins said.

While the women headed back to the locker room, Steve Simmons jogged onto the Huskie Soccer Field for the first time as the head coach for the NIU men’s soccer team.

"He is extremely intense, has a winning attitude and him being here will make for a great season in my last year," senior Matt Stukenberg said.

The elder and heavier alumni were forced to play two heat-scorching 35-minute halves. The more aggressive style of offense instilled by Simmons, as opposed to the passive offense taught by recent NIU men’s soccer coach Willy Roy, took its toll on the alumni.

Vrahram Kadkhodaian recorded a hat trick with his first goal coming five minutes into the game. Kadkhodaian weaved to his left through three alumni defenders and scored back to the right side of the net on alumni goalkeeper Steve Brody.

Freshman Justin McGrane scored the next pair of goals, putting the Huskies ahead 3-0.

The alumni got on the board with the second penalty kick of the game attempted by Mike Gentile, but it proved to be their lone goal.

Kadkhodaian’s final two goals closed out the scoring and the play of Mike Corvo, Simmons’ lone freshman recruit of the seven that came in, caught the eye of onlookers.

"He’s working hard and is looking good so far," Stukenberg said. "He’ll be a good addition to the team."

In honor of the MAC’s preseason No. 1 NIU football team, here are a few odds on what will happen throughout the season.

Joe Novak gets a lap dance in Alabama after the Huskies top the host Tide -- a la Mike Price.

Star running back Michael Turner invited to New York’s Downtown Athletic Club for the Heisman Award. Five percent chance he’ll win the award.

The Huskies end the year as top 25 team. Double that (40 percent) that they make their way into the top 25 at some point throughout the season.

Both Maryland and Iowa State leave DeKalb with corn stalks rammed up their rears because they got it pounded to them so bad by NIU. The Huskies are the only MAC school to host two BCS schools this year and for them to get two W’s would prove monumental.

NIU goes undefeated, wins its bowl game and head coach Smokin’ Joe Novak shows where the nickname came from. He lights up a fat stoagie while body surfing through the hands of the Huskie faithful.

Turner petitions to the NCAA that former NIU offensive linemen Ryan Diem (Colts) and Tim Vincent (Bears) still have a remaining year of college eligibility left. Already expected to be a down year for the offensive line, it didn’t help when news got out that Mark Orszula will be out for the entire year, again (leg). And, of course, the tragic death of 6-foot-8, 283-pound OT Shea Fitzgerald in the Chicago Porch Collapse left a sore spot in everyone’s hearts.

Dan Sheldon leads the nation in punt returns again and shows why he has the nickname Seabiscut. Subsequently, the Burlington Central-native has a big screen movie made about him, just as his (nick)namesake.

NIU students take down the practice goal post following a Maryland win. After intense persistence from the higher-ups at NIU to not let any students on or near the field in ‘02 -- for fear the goal posts may come down on them -- the students revolt against the system and take the practice goal post to the East Lagoon circa 1999.

Fifth-year NIU receiver PJ Fleck and his roommate and Huskie starting quarterback Josh Haldi will get along. If Fleck wants to improve on his team-high 59 receptions in 2001, expect Haldi to -- courtesy of Fleck -- get a few breakfast-in-beds and to have his clothes ironed and picked out for him when he wakes.

The nickname Turner the Burner will grow on everyone, including The Burner himself, who doesn’t exactly take a special kinship with it now.

All-MAC cornerback Randee Drew pulls a RuPaul and goes both ways. The speedster originally from Wisconsin could add an extra boost to Haldi’s receiving core.

Everyone, and this especially includes the Chicago media, realize who has the best DI-A football team in Illinois. Who could it be? Certainly not the Wildcats or Illini.