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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star
The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Men’s soccer seeks first MAC title

By Sean Connor | November 11, 2005

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 Outsiders’

By Sean Connor | November 9, 2005

They're the outsiders. Racing from one end of the field to the other, juniors Kevin Woerner and Justin McGrane of the NIU men's soccer team make a living on the sidelines. The duo are coach Steve Simmons' outside midfielders, and each considers himself...

History hasn’t been kind to NIU men’s soccer

By Andrew Hansen | November 8, 2005

Let’s take a trip down NIU’s memory lane, as the men’s soccer team goes into the MAC championships. Well, actually it’s a lack of memories, and the lane mostly is filled with potholes. Since NIU joined the MAC in 1997, it has passed the first...

Huskies play conference finale before MAC tournament

By Sean Connor | November 2, 2005

After a seven-game winning streak that pushed it to No. 22 in the nation, the NIU men's soccer team has lost three of its last four.

The Huskies (10-5-2 overall, 3-1 MAC) will play at 7 p.m. today at Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne in their final game of the season before the MAC Tournament.

NIU's most recent loss was Oct. 26 at Bradley. The Braves jumped out to a 1-0 lead two minutes into the game and held on as neither team scored the rest of the way.

Prior to Bradley the Huskies lost to No. 25 Wisconsin-Milwaukee and No. 1 Akron, but beat No. 20 Buffalo.

"We played strong after the first 10 minutes," NIU coach Steve Simmons said of the Bradley game. "We played 80 good minutes and couldn't get the equalizer. But if you don't score, you can't win."

IPFW, which joined the MAC for men's soccer Sept. 23, is carrying a 3-15 mark and 0-4 MAC record, but Simmons said it is not to be taken lightly.

"First and foremost, this is another conference game and you never want to lose a league match," Simmons said. "The fact that this is the regular-season finale means it's also crucial for building momentum for the postseason."

MAC Tournament

The seeds are set for the six teams in the MAC for the conference tournament, regardless of what happens the rest of the season.

No. 1 Akron will be the No. 1 seed and host of the tournament with its 16-0-1 record and 5-0 MAC mark.

NIU and Akron will receive first-round byes, marking the first time the Huskies have made it past the first round since 1999.

The first-round games will be played at the home field of the higher seed before the winners head to Akron for the semifinal and championship games.

On Tuesday, No. 3 seed Buffalo will host No. 6 seed IPFW and No. 4 seed Western Michigan will host No. 5 seed Bowling Green.

NIU will play the winner of the Buffalo and IPFW game and Akron will play the winner of the WMU and BGSU match.

The semifinal games will be played Nov. 11 and the championship game will be played Nov. 13. The No. 1 seed has not won the tournament in the past three years.

"Any team can beat Akron on a good day," said Buffalo men's soccer coach John Astudillo. "Akron is the best team I've seen since the 1998 Indiana national championship team, but if I was Akron I'd be leery of playing teams like NIU and Western Michigan."

The Huskies have scored 19 goals on the season while Akron leads the nation with 54 goals. NIU is No. 16 in the nation in shutout percentage, having shut out nine teams in its 17 games.

The Huskies are 5-3 in 1-0 games.

Of NIU's 17 games, 13 have been decided by one goal or less.

Ranked NIU faces Bradley

By Andrew Hansen | October 25, 2005

When NIU men’s soccer coach Steve Simmons looks at Wednesday’s opponent Bradley, it’s like looking into a mirror. "They’re in the same boat we are," Simmons said. "We have similar records and we’re both looking at possible at-large berths in...

Goletz, O’Reilly, Parrish remain from freshman class of 2002

By Sean Connor | October 23, 2005

Three seniors on the NIU men’s soccer team remain from the 11 that came in with the 2002 freshman class. They’ve seen three and four-win seasons, a new coach and athletics director, a 12-win season, a No. 22 national ranking, and a 5-1 loss Friday...

Huskies down No. 20 Bulls

By Andrew Hansen | October 23, 2005

Fresh off his team’s 5-1 loss against No. 1 Akron Friday and lacking ideal field conditions, NIU men’s soccer coach Steve Simmons knew Sunday’s game wasn’t going to be easy. "We knew it’d be a challenge," Simmons said. "But we responded. We...

Huskies battle No. 1 Akron

By Sean Connor | October 20, 2005

Name the MAC men’s soccer team that’s No. 1 in the nation, holds a 10-1 all-time series lead over NIU and is tops in the NCAA with 45 goals on the season. Akron is that team, and it will host the NIU men’s soccer team today at 6:30 p.m. The game...

Soccer to be broadcast live online

By James Nokes | October 19, 2005

When the NIU men’s soccer team plays No. 1 Akron at 7 p.m. Friday, it will experience a first. For the first time in school history, the team’s away game will be broadcast live on niuhuskies.com. Bill Baker and Sid Simmons will provide coverage for...

Athletic partners range from corporate to local

By Sean Connor | October 18, 2005

With donations ranging from world-wide corporations to the home-town bar and grill, the NIU Athletics Department partially funds its 496 athletes and 17 athletic programs. Gatorade, Adidas, Pepsi, Allstate, Applebee’s, Castle Bank, Fatty’s, Culver’s...

Soccer drops first in four weeks; ends shutout streak

By Andrew Hansen | October 16, 2005

It only took one mistake for the NIU men’s soccer team to lose Saturday. After a 2-0 win over Western Michigan on Friday, the Huskies (9-3-2, 2-0-0 MAC), ranked No. 22, were defeated 1-0 by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (8-2-4), ranked No. 25...

Soccer looks to continue winning ways

By Sean Connor | October 13, 2005

After receiving more than three days of rest for the first time since Sept. 16, the NIU men’s soccer team will put its newly acquired No. 22 national ranking on the line this weekend. At 2:30 p.m. today at Huskie Soccer Field the Huskies (8-2-2 overall,...

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