n the third game of a four-game homestand, the NIU men’s soccer team will try once more to earn its first victory of the season at Huskie Soccer Field today when it takes on Illinois-Chicago at 3 p.m.

Since the Huskies’ last win at Western Illinois, NIU has scored one goal in four games. Bernhard Hagevik leads the team in points with one goal and one assist.

As for the Flames, they began the season with a 3-3 record before going on a five game slide.

UIC is 0-3-2 in that span, with both ties going into double overtime, one of them being a 2-2 tie against DePaul.

The Huskies (2-9-0, 0-1-0) should remain optimistic going into the game since DePaul was barely able to sneak by the Huskies with a 1-0 overtime win.

UIC was then manhandled by Eastern Illinois the following week in an 8-0 drubbing on Sept. 29.

An oddity of the Flames is that their leading points scorer starts out on defense. Senior Joe Morelli leads the team with 13 points, netting five goals and dishing out three assists on the season.

The Huskies must remain aware of the Flames’ midfielder/forward Patrick Grange. Grange is tied for the lead in goals with Morelli and leads the team with 17 shots on goal.