For the third year in a row, the NIU men’s soccer team will play the host school of the MAC Tournament.

The Huskies (3-12-2, 2-4 MAC) head in as the No. 5 seed and play No. 4 Bowling Green (6-8-5, 2-3-1 MAC) at 3 p.m. Friday in Bowling Green, Ohio, at Cochrane Field.

The winner of NIU’s game will play Sunday against No. 1 Kentucky, which received a first-round bye.

Last year in the first round, NIU tied Marshall 1-1 at the end of regulation before losing 7-6 in a shootout after two scoreless overtime periods.

The rest of the tournament features No. 6 Marshall taking on No. 3 seed Western Michigan at 10:30 a.m., and No. 7 Buffalo against No. 2 Akron at 12:45 p.m. Both games are on Friday, and the winner of these two games will face each other in the semifinals.

The highest seed of the final two teams remaining will host the title game. Akron is the returning champion, having defeated Bowling Green 4-1 last fall on its way to the NCAA Tournament.

Road woes

NIU is 0-9 in road games this season, and have been outscored 17-2 in those games.

First-round opponent Bowling Green also beat the Huskies 2-1 back in October on the Falcons’ home turf.

At home, the Huskies went 3-3-2 this season with wins against MAC opponents Marshall and Buffalo, and outscored opponents 13-11.

Offensive boost

Tony Deldin, the Huskies’ leading scorer, will return to game action Friday from what was thought to be a season-ending knee injury.

The sophomore has been practicing with the team since Monday, but doesn’t expect to start against Bowling Green.

NIU athletic trainers told Deldin if he came in two times a day for treatment on his knee the past two weeks, he would be able to play in the first game of the MAC Tournament.

“I talked to our coach last week,” Deldin said. “He said if I could get through all the practices this week that I would play in the game.”

Deldin leads the team with three goals and eight points.

Call to the law

NIU’s College of Law is stealing one of NIU coach Steve Simmons’ players, Vraham Kadkhodaian, next season.

Senior midfielder Matt Stukenberg said Kadkhodaian was accepted to NIU’s College of Law and he won’t return to the team.

Kadkhodaian came to the Huskies in 2001 after redshirting one year at the University of Indiana.

He has recorded three goals while at NIU. At St. Viator High School, Kadkhodaian scored 74 goals in his three years on the varsity team, finishing second on the school’s all-time scoring list, behind Major League Soccer player Niño DaSilva.