Eight games, six losses and two ties.

Coach Steve Simmons and the NIU men’s soccer team is halfway through the season and is still searching for that elusive first win.

NIU is last among the seven MAC teams, but Marshall hasn’t fared much better.

In the next two games, the Huskies will look to pick up their first victory.

Marshall (1-5-0) is one spot ahead of NIU in the standings.

If the Herd prevent the Huskies from getting their first win of the season, DePaul (1-5-0) will be NIU’s next chance to knock the goose egg out of the win column.

“We’re over our soreness from conditioning,” Simmons said. “But we’re still training to get into match-shape, and that has set us behind.”

Cure for the injury bug

The last thing NIU coach Steve Simmons wanted in his first year was to have his starting goalkeeper and leading scorer fall to injury before the season even started.

Simmons has been forced to play as many as five freshmen at one time along with redshirt-freshman Chris VanDuerm.

“We’ve had to go with some young guys and they’ve done a good job for the most part,” Simmons said.

Sophomore Steve Goletz (broken left hand), junior Bernhard Hagevik (ankle) and seniors Matt Stukenberg (ankle) and Jason Sullivan (knee) were supposed to be the key components to Simmons turning his program around.

Stukenberg and Sullivan sat out one of the last two games while Hagevik and Goletz have missed five and four games, respectively.

Simmons said Sullivan won’t be returning anytime within the next two weeks from his sprained LCL and Goletz may be lost for the season if he decides to take a medical redshirt.

On the other hand, Hagevik and Stukenberg have returned, but are not at full strength.

Offense on vacation

Seventeen to eight.

Opponents have more than doubled the Huskies’ number of goals this season, and three of NIU’s goals came against IUPUI.

Simmons has tried to put three forwards on the field. It worked, with NIU scoring three goals on IUPUI.

However, the plan backfired when NIU took on Loyola, which scored a goal within three minutes at the beginning of each half in a 3-0 win.

“It’s hard when we have three or four freshmen out there,” Simmons said. “Our defense becomes vulnerable because we’re down a man and we’re so young.”

Claims to the net

With Goletz sidelined for at least two more weeks, if not for the season, freshman Matt Corcoran has claimed the starting goalkeeper position, for now.

Junior Joe Carrero started both games at the NIU Fall Invitational, but was not able to win the job from Corcoran, who had started the prior two games.

“Neither of them has played as well as they can,” Simmons said. “Matt has just been better in training, so we’re going with him.”

Corcoran, who boasts a 2.27 goals-against-average, has led NIU to three losses and one tie. The Downers Grove North native has 21 saves in four games, but has allowed 10 of the 17 goals scored on the Huskies this season.