Coach Willy Roy and his players are hoping to shake an illness that has plagued the team this year—losing.

The NIU soccer team has a chance to redeem itself this weekend as the Huskies travel down to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville where this year’s Big Central Soccer Conference Tournament is taking place.

The tournament will start Friday at 5 p.m. as NIU takes on Cincinnati, a team the Huskies have been looking to square up against since the Bearcats beat NIU 2-0 at Huskie Stadium two weeks ago.

NIU’s loss to CU capped what coach Roy referred to as a perfect season. Perfect in the sense that the Huskies were 0-6-0 in the BCSC, in other words, winless.

“We’ve got nowhere to go but up. Seriously, I don’t believe we’re a true 0-6-0 team,” Roy said. “A break here or there and some smarter play at times and I think we could be 6-0-0.”

Well, the Huskies have a chance to prove themselves. Coach Roy looks forward to the tournament and is high on the possibilities.

“The tournament gives us a chance to see what we have learned,” Roy said. “It’s a second chance. New life. Call us a reborn soccer team. Say anything you want, we have a chance to rectify our past.”

The Huskies could start their new life with more scoring. NIU has scored just one goal in its last three matches. Willy Roy Jr. leads the offensive attack for the Huskies with six goals and six assists for a total of 18 points on the season. John Lechner remains three points back coming on seven goals and one assist.

Defensively, NIU will look to Markus Roy to stop oncoming shots. The freshman has a 1.51 goals against average while boasting three shutouts. However, Jay Schneider of Cincinnati has been even more impressive with a 1.10 GAA and four shutouts, one coming against NIU.

The top guns for Cincinnati are Greg Page and Tim Lesiak. Page has 11 goals and five assists for 27 points. Two of Page’s goals came in the NIU game. Lesiak looks to his four goals, eight points, to follow the play of Page.

If NIU wins its first game, the Huskies will advance and play Quincy College (NIU lost to QC 3-2 earlier in the year). Should the Huskies win that match, NIU will find itself in the championship round. NIU’s opponent in the championship round would be either Drake, Wisconsin-Milwaukee or SIU-E. Marquette will not be taking part in the tournament as they will be dropping out of the BCSC next year.