Huskies Host Bowling Green Wednesday in Final Regular Season Game

Posted By: Peyton
November 1, 2023 @ 10:27 am
NIU Sports

The Northern Illinois University men’s soccer team squares off with Bowling Green on Wednesday night, Nov. 1, in the final game of the regular season for both teams. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and NIU will honor its 10 seniors at approximately 6 p.m.

The Huskies bring a 5-8-1 mark into Wednesday’s regular season finale, including a 2-4-1 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play after suffering a 2-0 setback at UIC last Friday (Oct. 27). NIU has won each of its last two home games, topping Bradley, 1-0, on Oct. 14, and Belmont, 1-0, on Oct. 22. The Huskies are 4-2 overall at home this season.

Senior goalkeeper Jakub Rojek (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben) ranks ninth in the country averaging 5.0 saves per game. Rojek and freshman goalkeeper Atahan Arslan (Ismir, Turkey) have combined to average 4.86 saves per contest, which ranks 17th nationally.

Taisei Arima (Machida, Japan/Seiryo) leads the NIU offense with three goals and nine points, Camilo Estrada (Dallas, Texas/Lone Star), Eddie Knight (Frisco, Texas/Lone Star) and Angel Rodriguez (Elgin, Ill./Ignite Christian Academy) also have three goals this season.

NIU goes into Wednesday night’s contest tied with Evansville for the sixth, and final, spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on seven points, but the Purple Aces hold the tiebreaker over NIU having beaten the Huskies on Sept. 23. NIU must win or better Evansville’s result on Wednesday to reach the conference tournament, the Purple Aces play at Belmont on Wednesday night.

Bowling Green comes to DeKalb with a 7-6-3 overall record, including a 4-3 mark in league play, the Falcons have clinched a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. Alberto Anaya and Trace Terry each have four goals and six assists to lead Bowling Green in scoring, Brendan Graves has played all 16 matches in goal for the Falcons, posting a 1.63 goals against average and a .748 save percentage.

The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will begin on Sunday, Nov. 5, with a pair of quarterfinals as the No. 3 seed will host No. 6 and the No. 4 seed will host No. 5. Final seeding will be determined following Wednesday’s final round of regular season matches.