A desperate team is a dangerous team, and Western Michigan men’s soccer is desperate. NIU will have a strong test against the Broncos (10-5-2, 2-2-1 MAC) today in Kalamazoo.

NIU (5-8-3, 3-1-1) sits second in the conference while Western Michigan is in fifth place, just one place out of a MAC tournament qualifying spot.

The Broncos will be looking to take as many points away as possible in the game against the Huskies because they still need to face conference leaders Akron in their last conference game of the season.

NIU coach Eric Luzzi is predicting a tough, physical game.

“They’re good,” Luzzi said. “They have 10 wins already. So, they have beaten some good teams. They have had a very good season on the whole and, like everybody else other than Akron, nobody’s guaranteed anything right now in conference, so we are all fighting for the same three spots. It’s going to be a feisty, probably somewhat physical game, so it will be a hard game for us, for sure.”

Luzzi also expects the wind in Michigan to be a strong factor in the game. The Huskies will need to take the advantage when they have the wind at their backs at the attacking end. The wind makes defensive clearances difficult, and if NIU can keep the possession and find a goal when it has the wind, it will make for a great advantage.

Not only will NIU’s defense need to deal with the wind, but they will also have to deal with a high-scoring Western Michigan attack.

The Broncos are led by senior striker Shane Lyons, who leads the team with eight goals and 18 points. Western Michigan as a team has scored 30 goals on the season opposed to the Huskies 13 goals.

Senior goalkeeper Jordan Godsey said he is confident because of how well the defense is playing at the moment.

“We are just trying to play our game as usual,” Godsey said. “Our defensive performances have been really good the last three games and coming off of two big wins. I feel if we just play our game, we can compete with anybody.”

Godsey and the Huskies’ defense has posted three shutouts in the last three games, most recently blanking West Virginia in a big 1-0 win over the weekend. Godsey credits the performances to communication.

“I think it’s been just us settling down,” Godsey said. “Our communication has been a lot better, reading the cue’s from the other attackers, just basically it all comes down to communication.”

NIU will need to come out victorious in the game against Western Michigan along with its final game against Buffalo on Friday if they want to ensure itself a spot in the MAC Tournament.