Taking on the best teams in the nation is no longer rare for the NIU men’s soccer team.

This season, they played No. 17 Bradley then went on to No. 2 SMU, hosted No. 6 Akron and battled in-state rival and No. 2 Northwestern.

It’s no surprise that the team will be at it again as they hit the road to match-up with Duke at noon on Sunday.

The Blue Devils have been off and running this season when it comes to big games. The team was able to tally a scoreless draw against No. 1 Wake Forest two weeks ago.

The Blue Devils (9-5-2 overall, 3-2-2 ACC) also grabbed an overtime win against No. 19 Virginia last weekend to add to their impressive resume.

“Right now the ACC and Big Ten are among the top three conferences in the country,” said NIU head coach Steve Simmons in his weekly podcast aired on niuhuskies.com. “So anytime we have a chance to play these teams and to do well, it’s going to serve us down the road.”

The Huskies are coming off of an upsetting 1-0 loss to Wisconsin last Wednesday, a contest they hadn’t lost at home in over 10 years.

The Badgers registered only two shots on goal, but one passed goalkeeper Joe Zimka to notch the win.

However, NIU has garnered an impressive 8-4-4 record on the season thus far, and heading into the final two regular season games, Simmons attributes the success to the talented depth chart.

“The depth gives us a chance to sustain hits on injuries, and we’ve had a couple injuries,” Simmons said. “It also extends the legs of our players as we go into weeks with multiple games.”

Simmons said the sport of soccer is not meant to be played with two games within three days, but still expects the team to perform at a high level.

So far, the Huskies have managed their busy schedule well, building 3-1-1 MAC record, compared to last year’s final of 1-3-1. And though the team has already beaten a No. 2 team in the nation, Simmons said the guys will be able to test their talent against the Blue Devils.

“You want to see how good you are,” the coach said of measuring up to some of the top teams in the country. “And Duke is certainly going to be one of those types of games.”