It’s showtime for the NIU Field Hockey team tonight at 6 p.m. against St. Louis University—a key game for the Huskies.

After tonight the Huskies play Northeastern University on Saturday (1 p.m.), an NCAA Final Four team from a year ago. They battle the University of Toledo on Sunday (11 a.m.). All three contests will be played on the turf of Huskie Stadium.

The St. Louis matchup is big for NIU because of the rivalry created through last year’s games. The Huskies beat St.Louis three times last season by a 12-3 margin and knocked them from the national rankings, in which they were never able to recover.

Huskie coach Laurie Bell feels that the St.Louis squad will be ready and raring to go.

“St.Louis will probably give us our toughest battle because of the rivalry created from last year,” Bell said. “We need momentum going into the Northeastern game. Friday is a real critical game.”

Bell said that concentration and team work are the key factors to the success of this year’s team, especially since the Huskies are going to be without leading scorer Anne Marie Roozendaal and goalie Colleen Preston.

“We lost key players from last year,” Bell said. “It’ll be interesting to see who fills their shoes.”

As of right now, it looks as if sweeper Alice Wassmann and goalie Jeltje Janssen, two freshman, will be filling the slots.

Bell was impressed with Wassmann’s preseason play and is looking for good things to come from the rookie.

“Hopefully, (Wassmann) will be very poised,” Bell said. “She can emerge as a strong team player.”

The Huskies will need a lot of team work since there is not one leading scorer on this year’s team and the lack of experience at the two key positions, but Bell is very optimistic about the season.

“I’m very anxious to get started,” Bell said. “I think the kids are mentally ready and pumped from last year’s ranking. The key for us is going to be our ability to play as a team.”