The men’s soccer team ended their season in disappointing fashion, getting knocked out of the Mid-American Conference tournament in the first round November 6 by the Western Michigan University Broncos.

The Huskies finished with an 8-9-1 record, a significant boost from the 3-11-1 record they finished with the year prior.

Next season, NIU could surge toward the top of the MAC with another significant improvement, and further improvement certainly isn’t out of the question.

The Huskies’ top scorer for the second consecutive season, junior forward Jan Maertins, will play his senior season next year. He scored seven goals and added three assists, good for 17 points on the season. When Maertins led the team in scoring during the 2017 season, he did so with only 10 points. If Maertins can take another step forward during his senior season, the Huskies will be a force to be reckoned with.

Maertins isn’t the only reason for optimism. Reigning MAC Freshman of the Year, forward Nick Markanich will return with a full season of experience under his belt. Nick, along with his brother first-year defender Anthony Markanich were a revelation to the Huskies squad.

“[Head Coach Ryan Swan] did a good job bringing in all these new players; they’re all really good,” Senior forward Kevin Rodriguez said. “They’re a big help to the team; you see Nick [Markanich] and Anthony [Markanich] scoring all these goals.”

Nick was second on the team in points, by way of his team leading eight goals. Anthony ranked third on the team with 15 points despite playing defense.

One player NIU will miss is Rodriguez, who finished fourth in team scoring with 13 points which were highlighted by a team leading nine assists.

As tough as losing Rodriguez will be, if Swan can bring in half quality of the recruiting class he brought in this season, the Huskies will be better off next season.

“We identified the right kinds of players and they’ve seen success at the start of their career,” Swan said. “Now, we just have to make sure they continue to be hungry. The hope is [the next incoming group] slims down a bit. This [year] was a big class [of first years]. It’s a very important recruiting class in 2019. It’s important to see how the players respond after the success they’ve enjoyed. They came in in great shape and mentality this year, but it’s going to have to be even better next year.”

Sophomore midfielder Alex Welch finished with nine points and could take on a bigger role with the departure of Rodriguez.

The Huskies lack of experience may have caused some issues this season, but the talent appears to be on the pitch. The possession metrics favored NIU in most of the teams games. In the season as a whole, the Huskies averaged a 14-9 shot advantage against opponents. NIU scored two less goals than they gave up despite 90 more shot attempts over the course of the season.

First-year midfielders Lawrence Kwazema and Louis Sala played big roles for the team despite not impacting the score sheet much Their growth this season will help the team in the future as well. Sala thinks the ceiling is high for this team.

“[The ceiling] is unlimited,” Sala said. “In our first year, we’re very young, and we’re doing very well. Each year we’re only going to improve more and grow stronger together. We’ve only been playing together for two months.”