The Ohio soccer team's season ended last year against Northern Illinois in the second overtime of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship at Shafer Street Field when Anne Mucci scored a goal with nine minutes, one second left to give her Huskies the win, 2-1.

Thoughts of that game likely will linger in the minds of the Bobcats today, as they prepare to open their MAC schedule against the Huskies in DeKalb, Ill.

"We'll think 'No repeats of last time,'" Ohio midfielder Nicki Pendleton said. "We'll know it's a war to the death, so we'll have to go out hard. We'll have to fight."

The teams were picked to be the top two in the conference this year, with Ohio first and Northern Illinois second. However, both bring losing records into their meeting.

The Bobcats are 2-5; Northern Illinois is 0-7 overall and 0-1 in the MAC.

These records reflect the teams' commitment to play strong opponents to prepare them for the NCAA Tournament berth that comes with this year's MAC Tournament Championship, Ohio Head Coach Wendy Logan said. The MAC schedule is really a whole new season for the teams, and both expect to do well.

"(Northern Illinois) has some new players and they've lost some starters so they are simply trying to find a rhythm," she said. "They play hard, are well coached and play smart."

Logan said with the No. 1 and No. 2 teams meeting so early in the season it will be interesting to see if the game is similar to the final last year.

Pendleton said she thinks playing the Huskies this early is a benefit to the Bobcats.

"It's good the game is so early, because we played all these out-of-conference games. We've had a tough schedule, with tough competition," she said. "We have to come out hard and strong like we did in all those games.

"The game's so early, it will open you up ahead or down."

After Ohio finishes with the Huskies, they travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., to take on Western Michigan on Sunday. Western Michigan (4-1, not including a game against Oakland on Wednesday), was one of the eight teams that made the MAC tournament last year.

Logan said the Broncos are out to prove they belong in a more balanced conference this year.

"The parity is much better, we've seen it already," she said. "Kent, Miami (and) Buffalo all have done well. I think their schedule has had a lot to do with that, but anytime you win, a team has confidence. We have to play every game really hard."

With the No. 1 ranking over its heads, Ohio is a prime target for its MAC opponents, Pendleton said, and back Ashley Jakeway agreed.

"They're all shooting for No. 1," Jakeway said.

Ohio plays Northern Illinois to stay at the top of the conference at 3:30 p.m. today. It takes on Western Michigan at noon Sunday.