Veteran leadership can be valuable to a young soccer team. For a contending team like the Huskies, veteran leadership is a necessity.

When searching for the heart of this year’s Huskie squad, look no further than the trio of captains; Nick Park, Rasih Pala and Peter Agrimson.

NIU hosts Loyola today at 5 p.m. at Huskie Soccer Field.

Park, Pala and Agrimson entered their freshman year with a Huskie squad that made it all the way to the MAC Championship game before falling to Kentucky. With one year left, they hope to make a trip back while eyeing a trip to the NCAA tournament.

“All three of us were together our freshman year and we got so close,” Pala said. “We know what it feels like to get to that level.”

The team still has a lot of work ahead of them trying to recover from last season, when the team struggled to a 4-12-1 record.

“It was very disappointing. We had a lot of games where it was really close,” Park said.

Last season, the Huskies lost seven games by one goal, including a quadruple overtime loss to Akron to end their season.

The freshmen, highlighted by midfielder Eric O’Reilly and All-State goalkeeper Steve Goletz, will look up to their captains to show them the ropes and make them better players.

“I definitely look up to all three of the captains, they all proved a good example in different ways,” O’Reilly said. “Rasih’s more of the vocal one, he’ll tell you what to do on the field. Nick is the encouraging one and Peter is more of a leader by example.”

Agrimson looks to lead the Huskies and hold onto the first team All-MAC status he gained last year, while some of his teammates have even higher aspirations for him.

“Peter’s personal goal should be to make All-American status,” Park said. “I think he’s very capable of it.”

If the Huskies do plan to succeed, it will take the leadership of Park, Pala and Agrimson to make things happen.

“The three of us try to work together as captains on the team, especially with our experience,” Pala said. “We just try to be a positive example for the guys.”

If Goletz does have any trouble with school, he should look no further than the captains for advice.

“These three guys are truly outstanding student athletes,” Coach Willy Roy said. “Peter Agrimson, a two-time Academic All-American, Nick Park has a 3.5 [GPA] and Rasih, over 3.0 [GPA] lead us on and off the field. They’re great human beings, we’re just glad to have them.”

With a healthy team and some young freshmen, Coach Roy has a lot to look forward to.

“I think this team with Eric O’Reilly and Thomas Meiner, we picked up two genuine offensive midfielders,” Roy said. “Bernhard Hagevik, our goal scorer, missed almost 70 percent of the season. He’s ready to go and healthy, which are some positives.

“I just hope we all stay healthy and the rest of it will take care of itself.”

For the Huskies though, it all comes down to winning. And when it comes to winning, the Huskies can look no further than the freshmen to bring the energy they need to make this season a positive one.

“We want to come out and surprise teams and show them what we can do,” Goletz said as O’Reilly added, “I like to sneak up on teams to show them who we are. A lot of teams probably underestimate us, but we’ve been working hard all preseason.”

The Huskies are off to an 0-2 start following back to back losses to New Mexico (1-2) and UNLV (1-4).