Aug. 27, 2008

DeKALB - The Northern Illinois men's soccer team aims to continue the success of the last four years when it opens the 2008 season at the Northwestern Lakeside Classic in Evanston, Ill.

The Huskies kickoff the season against IUPUI of the Summit League Friday at 5 p.m., and take on San Francisco of the West Coast Conference Sunday at noon. NIU will being the quest to add to its 45 total wins over the last four seasons.

Head Coach Steve Simmons, who will mark the start of his sixth season at the helm of the program, believes team chemistry will be the key to success.

"This whole season, the challenge for me and the guys is how quickly we can come together, especially with the new players we have," Simmons said.

After the departure of seven seniors that made up the most successful class in NIU men's soccer history, Simmons added 11 newcomers to bolster his team. He said the Huskies are making strides toward incorporating the fresh players with 17 returning letterwinners.

"I'll tell you, that's a fun challenge for us bring this team together," he said. "As the process goes, we're where we'd like to be. It's 'game on' Friday, and we're excited to kick it off the right way."

The Huskies will face the Jaguars, Friday, a team that finished with a 5-1-0 record in the Summit League last season, and returns six starters.

"I know they finished pretty strong in the Summit last year, and they always have very good attacking players," Simmons said of IUPUI.

Northern Illinois has been unable to defeat IUPUI in three tries. The Jaguars won, 1-0, when the teams last met in 2004. After the loss, NIU won 10 of its next 11 games and the Huskies finished the year with 12 wins, the most since 1990.

On Sunday, NIU will face an even less familiar foe, as the Huskies battle the Dons for the first time. San Francisco placed sixth in the West Coast Conference with a 3-8-1 record, and went 7-11-1 overall.

"San Francisco has traditionally been a power," Simmons said. "They play in one of the toughest conferences in the country with Santa Clara, Portland, and Gonzaga. San Francisco will be very, very organized, and they are coming out on this trip to get two wins, mark my words."

After the Northwestern Lakeside Classic, the Huskies play their first home match of the year against SIU-Edwardsville, Sept. 5 at 5 p.m.