No one has to tell the NIU men’s soccer team how important its upcoming match is.

With only six matches left before the MAC Tournament, the Huskies look to take a big leap toward hosting the conference tournament when it travels to Akron. The Zips are No. 18 according to College Soccer News.

“Any MAC game is important because we only have five of them to play,” head coach Steve Simmons said. “And in the past its been Akron and ourselves battling for the first or second spots [in conference]. And with the way the results have gone the last two or three years, it’s always a battle with those guys.”

NIU (4-5-3) played an epic match with the Zips last season, a 1-0 victory in the MAC championship match, the Huskies’ first win over Akron since 1990 and clinching their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1973.

“That was a real big game, just as we expected,” senior defender Blake Gotkowski said. “It went down to the last minute, and we were battling the whole time. I suspect [this match] to be very similar.”

The stakes of this match won’t be quite as high, but it will still be a key match for the Huskies.

“It’s not gonna take much to get us motivated,” Simmons said. “We’re looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great college soccer environment. It’s an important conference game, and we want to put our best foot forward.”

Another thing NIU would like to do is carry over its momentum from last weekend’s home sweep into Saturday night’s match.

“We’ve got some good momentum, but so does Akron,” Simmons said. “Anytime you get a momentum clash, you get kind of a big bang, and I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Notes: NIU has only posted a 3-11 career record against the Zips, second worst among teams they’ve played at least 10 times. Sophomore Kyle Knotek returned to the practice field on Tuesday after sitting out the two weekend matches with a hip flexor.

Simmons said he’s feeling good and should be ready to go Saturday. Akron moved up four spots this week in College Soccer News’ Top-30 poll, from 22 to 18. They also boast the nation’s No. 5 recruiting class.

The Zips are currently 8-2-1, with one of their losses coming to No. 2 Wake Forest.