If there was ever a time a team needed three points, this would be it.

The NIU men’s soccer team takes on Buffalo on the road tonight at 6:30 p.m. with a victory going a long way for the squad.

The Huskies (6-5-2 overall, 0-3-0 MAC) stand alone at the bottom of the MAC without any conference victories, but are still just three points back of a spot in the MAC semifinals.

“I think if we take care of business here in Buffalo, we’re going to have a lot more confidence going into the next two conference games, and then we can finish out the season definitely 3-3 where we need to be to get to that tournament,” said senior midfielder Kyle Knotek. “I think just getting the win and scoring at least a goal or two this game is really important and playing every game like it’s our last for the rest of the season.”

NIU has lost three out of its last five with the losses coming in conference and the two wins coming against Big Ten opponents.

Scoring has not come all too often for the Huskies as they have the second highest shot total in the MAC with 196, and have the lowest shot percentage with .061, having scored 12 goals.

“Everything we’re doing is really good, but we just need to finish,” said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. “We have very talented attacking players that at various points of their soccer careers have had no problems finishing so I think at some point it becomes mental.”

Although NIU sometimes misses on scoring opportunities, its defense has proved its worth. In 13 matches, the Huskies have given up eight goals, which is 15th best in the nation, on 42 shots on goal, which is second in the MAC to No. 1 Akron.

“That’s a great stat and it says a lot about our guys in our back four, but part of it has been because we’ve had the ball a lot more and we’ve possessed it a lot more than we have in the past,” Luzzi said. “That takes some pressure off of our guys in the back because they’re not having to defend quite as much.”

Sophomore keeper Jordan Godsey has played his part with a 0.61 goals against average, 19th best in the country and second best in school history, and an .816 save percentage, which are both good enough for second in the conference.

Buffalo (5-7-1, 1-2-0) has been the victor just once in its past five matches, however, is currently parked in the fourth spot, which is where the Huskies want to be when the regular season comes to an end.

The Bulls are 2-0-1 at home this year and are led by junior striker Mike Unwin who has three goals and three assists this season.

In 13 games, UB has been outscored 25-12 and outshot 175-141.

NIU leads the all-time series 8-7-1 and has remained unbeaten in the last three

“Some of the games this year have been wide open, back and forth and high energy type games,” Luzzi said. “Historically, our games with them have just been physical wars; a lot of sprinting and running and tackling and stuff like that. It’s hard to tell which kind of game’s going to break out.”