In the words of Judge Mills Lane, “Let’s get it on.”

For the first time in five years the NIU men’s soccer team has advanced past the first round of the MAC tournament.

At 4 p.m. today in Akron, Ohio the Huskies (11-5-2 overall, 4-1 MAC), who evaded the first round with a bye after finishing second in the MAC, will play Buffalo in the semifinals of the MAC tournament. Buffalo advanced past the first round after beating Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne 4-0 Tuesday.

The winner will play the victor of the Western Michigan-Akron game that begins at 6:30 p.m. Akron is ranked No. 1 in the nation and has scored an NCAA-leading 54 goals on the season. The championship game will be at 1 p.m. Sunday.

“With Buffalo it’s going to be a matter of who’s more aggressive,” NIU coach Steve Simmons said. “It’s going to be who’s left standing at the end of the game.”

Before beating IPFW, Buffalo’s last game was a 1-0 loss to NIU on Oct. 23 when the Bulls (13-3-1, 2-2-1) were ranked No. 20 in the nation. NIU sophomore Chris Rufa scored off a Bryan Abdallah pass 2:17 into the second half.

The Huskies have played two games since beating Buffalo, but will have eight days of rest heading into Friday’s game compared to Buffalo’s two.

Simmons said the rest was much needed.

“We were able to heal some bodies,” Simmons said. “But any more than that and we’d worry about going stale.”

The third-year coach said the team had a good week of practice that was heavy in fitness and intensity.

More than anything, Simmons said the team’s veterans are ready to lead the Huskies into Friday’s match.

“They’re not young anymore,” Simmons said. “We’ve played in the first round of the tournament the past two years. The players know there’s a lot to be had.”

On offense, Buffalo is led by junior Andrae Clarke and sophomore Lee Catchpole. The two have 27 and 24 points, respectively. Catchpole leads the team with nine goals while Clarke tops Buffalo with 11 assists.

Buffalo has three other players with more points than NIU’s points leader, junior Kevin Woerner. The Elmhurst native has 13 points on the season and his five goals ties him for the team lead with senior Chris VanDuerm.

But Simmons pointed out senior Eric O’Reilly has been playing above himself for the Huskies as of late.

The defensive back is part of a Huskies’ defense that has helped record nine shutouts and allowed just 16 goals on the season.

“Eric has been very sharp,” Simmons said. “He’s always steady, but he’s been extra steady. He’s playing with finality being a senior. I think we’ll be able to expect that from all of our seniors.”