NIU will be on the road tonight battling Indiana University, but do not expect any free throws, jump shots or slam dunks in this game.

The IU soccer team will host coach Willy Roy’s Huskies in a 7:30 match in Bloomington. The game can be seen Thursday on SportsVision by tape-delay cablecast at 8 p.m. with former NIU goalie Pete Mannos (1972-75) doing the color commentary.

The Hoosiers are No. 2 in the nation according to Soccer America and have proven to be just as successful as its basketball counterpart.

IU features head soccer coach Jerry Yeagley who proudly displays a 260-44-19 career record, and holds two (1982, ‘83) NCAA soccer titles.

Also, look out for the Steve Alford of soccer, IU forward Ken Snow, who will cover the field with his 11 points on five goals and one assist in only four games this season.

Roy has a little strategy planned for the IU game that should help the Huskies.

Snow is going to see a Huskie around him at all times. He will be receiving constant coverage. In other games that IU has played, Snow was the only one scoring goals. So if Snow is stopped, IU could also be stopped.

Indiana currently holds a 3-0-1 record heading into tonight’s game. The tie came against Notre Dame in a 1-1 match, but IU showed its fire power against Michigan State by defeating them 6-0.

However, the Huskies can provide some of their own artillery. Freshman Markus Roy, who coach Roy considers a “quality goalkeeper in the making,” will defend the NIU goal and will try to reduce his 1.50 goals against average.

NIU also has the scoring twosome of Willy Roy Jr. and freshman John Lechner who account for seven of the nine Huskie goals this season.

The Huskies can expect to play IU tough as long as the opportunities NIU has seen so far start to come together.

NIU has 31 shots on goal compared to 26 shots on goal by its opponents and has outscored the opposition 9-6.

Coach Roy does not know what the outcome of the IU game will be, but he knows what the players have to do to win.

“They’re really going to have to be on their toes to do well down there,” Roy said. “It’s gonna have to be total teamwork. I don’t think that it will be one individual who will win or lose the game.

“We have to be aggressive against them in order to get a good result,” coach Roy said. “If we’re passive they’ll walk all over us.”