DeKALB | Already tight on defense, the NIU men’s soccer team will get an added boost as junior defender Steve Algozino comes back from a nagging leg injury.

One of the best defenders in the MAC, Algozino was an important piece to last year’s run. And he’ll be even more important as the season gets deeper into the fall.

On a sunny fall day, the Northern Star caught up with Steve Algozino. The men’s soccer team just ended practice amidst a swarm of various insects on the field turf at Huskies Stadium.

Northern Star: What’s the story with all these bugs?

Algozino: I don’t know but I swallowed a couple out there at practice today. [laughs]

NS: If Garrett Wolfe played soccer, what position would he play?

SA: Forward. He could just run past everyone.

NS: What would be the key to stopping him?

SA: Just tackle him. Coach always says keep your feet choppy, moving all the time. Don’t go diving all the time, just keep him in front of you and wait for him to make a mistake.

NS: Coke or Pepsi?

SA: Pepsi. I just like it better.

NS: “Seinfeld” or “Friends?”

SA: “Seinfeld.”

NS: Favorite episode and character?

SA: Festivus. Festivus for the rest of us! Kramer, well — maybe George.

NS: When is the best time to play soccer? Summer, fall or winter?

SA: Right when it starts to get cold, but not too cold. Sixty degrees is perfect.

NS: On a more serious note, your mate on the back line, Chris Rufa, goes down and you come back from injury…

SA: Rufa and I live together. It is convenient that as soon as he goes down I’m coming back. But [freshman midfielder-defender] Josh Karsten has done a heck of a job stepping in for both of us as a freshman.

NS: With six games left, what are some of your goals?

SA: Win the regular season for the MAC. We’ve got some big games coming up against Wisconsin and Northwestern. We just want to win the big games and do what we’ve got to do to finish the season strong and get some momentum going into the postseason.

NS: What would it mean to win the MAC?

SA: That’s everything we’ve worked for in the winter and spring training. That’s the goal from day one.

NS: What would it mean to go to the NCAA tournament?

SA: That’s like the MAC tournament; we are playing to win a national championship. Regardless of what people say, that is what we are playing to do.

James Nokes is the NIU men’s soccer beat reporter for the Northern Star.