DeKALB | NIU men’s soccer has a much different look to it this year than in previous seasons.

It isn’t the appearance in its shoes or jerseys: It’s the Huskies’ style of play.

The Huskies, known for their strong defensive play, shifted philosophy this year under head coach Eric Luzzi.

NIU made the transition from a defensive-minded team into a strong-attacking, offensive team.

“The team has really bought into the new system,” Luzzi said. “We try to get the ball downfield more and use short, quick passes as well as interchanging. We really take pride in being a team that is comfortable on the ball, and we try to play a lot of the game in the other team’s half.”

Luzzi worked on putting this system together based on the players he recruited.

“We knew that as we recruited the players that we wanted that we were going to have to change something,” Luzzi said. “At the end of the day, you cannot fit a square peg into a round hole. If we tried to make this team an ultra-defensive team, we would not be in a good place right now because we have good attacking players.”

In the Huskies’ first eight games of the season last year, they only managed to score eight goals.

Looking at NIU through its first eight games of this season, the Huskies have already scored 13 goals, five more than last season.

“The very simple answer as to why we have scored more goals is that we have better players,” Luzzi said. “No disrespect to our team last year, but we have some personality players on the attacking side of the ball this year.”

Senior Francis Otira said he believes confidence is another reason why the Huskies are scoring more goals this year.

“The main change is we are more confident,” Otira said. “The boys who are attacking have a good understanding of each other. And when we have good confidence, we believe that good things can happen.”

Sophomore Gael Rivera and freshman Paul Hogan lead the scoring for the Huskies this year with three goals each.

Hogan enjoys playing in the offense-friendly system and said he thinks it has been effective.

“I like the new system a lot,” Hogan said. “The top four guys have been doing a really good job of interchanging, and everyone’s getting into their positions and working off of each other really well and we’re scoring goals.”

Otira enjoys the change of pace in Luzzi’s current system more than in the previous one.

“Personally, I like the system a lot because it means were not defending for 90 minutes in a game,” Otira said. “The fact that we try to keep the ball for most of the game takes a big load off of the defense.”

The Huskies are finding success with their new system. They are currently ranked No. 20 in the nation with a record of 7-1-0.

Luzzi is pleased with the results he has seen so far.

“I think that, so far, the system has been good and has worked,” Luzzi said. “It’s mainly because our guys have all bought into this system, and that we have good players that fit into the system in very good spots.”