Sept. 3, 2008

Weekly Release in PDF Format

 

DeKALB - The Northern Illinois men's soccer team will play its first match at the new NIU Soccer/Track and Field Complex, Friday at 5 p.m., renewing an in-state rivalry with SIU-Edwardsville. The Huskies will then hit the road to face No. 17 Bradley, Sunday.

The Huskies (2-0-0) are coming off winning the Northwestern Lakeside Classic title with shutouts of IUPUI and San Francisco. NIU is looking to go 3-0 for the first time since 1998, when the Huskies won their first four and went undefeated in their opening seven matches.

Sixth-year head coach Steve Simmons said his team began to gel in its opening weekend.

"We're coming together quite nicely," he said. "We want to continue to get to form, while getting the results on the field."

The Cougars (1-1-0) split a pair of matches at the Drake Invitational to open the season. SIU-Edwardsville edged Missouri State, 1-0, before falling to the Bulldogs, 2-0. Senior midfielder Bob Ridder, who ranked third on the team in points in 2007, scored the Cougars' only goal this season, assisted by Myles Hensler.

Northern Illinois is 5-13-0 against SIU-Edwardsville all-time, but, though the team's play almost every year in spring exhibitions, they haven't met in official competition since 1995. In that game, the Huskies recorded a 4-0 shutout over the Cougars.

"SIU-E won the national title in like 1979, so they are a program with some pedigree," Simmons said. "They get a lot of the St. Louis kids, and that area is a soccer hotbed."

Like NIU, Bradley opened its season 2-0-0, picking up wins over UAB and Memphis to win the Tigers' Diadora Tournament championship. Junior forward Chris Cutshaw had three goals and an assists to earn tournament MVP accolades. Juniors Grant Campbell and Travis English and sophomore goalkeeper Drew Van Kampen joined English on the All-Tournament team.

Simmons expects the Braves to pose a significant challenge for the Huskies.

"They feel the momentum from last year's trip to the NCAA Elite Eight," he said. "They've got some good young players, and it's always tough to play at their place."

For Huskie junior Brad Bahr, the match with the Braves is a homecoming. The Peoria native graduated from Dunlap High School in 2006, and played with and against several members of Bradley's current roster.

"It feels good to go back to my home town and play in front of my home crowd," Bahr said. "I grew up and played with a lot of the Bradley guys, so it feels great going back."

Bahr said he was recruited by both schools, but chose NIU on a gut feeling.

"It seems like I would feel more at home there, but when I came on my recruiting visit to NIU, it just felt like the right fit," he said. "I grew up my whole life wanted to go to Bradley, but when I came here and met the coaches, I knew this was the right spot for me."

The Huskies are 10-5-2 against the Braves in a series that dates back to 1968, when NIU won the first meeting 7-2. Northern Illinois also won the teams' last meeting, a 1-0 results in 2006.

The men will hope their new home will bring the same good fortune it brought the women's team, who picked-up two shut out wins at the complex last weekend.

"I hope the field is not too much of a mystery for us," Simmons said. "At the end of the day, it's two teams coming out to play."

The match with SIU-E is the first of three home matches between now and Sept. 14. The Huskies will host Xavier and Eastern Illinois at the NIU/adidas Invitational next weekend.