June 8, 2010

EVANSTON, Ill. - Led by a group of Mid-American Conference champions, Northern Illinois men's soccer veterans won the Alumni National Championship, hosted by Northwestern, Saturday.

The Huskie squad, comprised of eight members of the 2006 MAC Championship team plus two other former NIU players, defeated Northwestern's alumni group on penalty kicks in the championship game to seal the tournament victory.

A Huskie letterwinner from 2003-06, Chris Van Duerm helped organize the team.

"It was good to see that everyone can still kick it around a little bit," Van Duerm said. "We may not have had the lungs or the legs, but the skills were still there."

En route to victory in the seven team field, NIU defeated Michigan State, the University of Chicago and Northwestern, prior to beating the Wildcats in the championship. Other teams that participated in the seven-on-seven event included DePaul, Indiana and Beloit College. 2009 champion Notre Dame did not field a team to defend its title.

2006 MAC Champions Bryan Abdallah (final season 2008), Steve Algozino (2007), Matt Corcoran (2006), Blake Gotkowski (2007), Josh Karsten (2009), Justin "Juice" McGrane (2006) and Chris Rufa (2007) joined Van Duerm on the team. They were joined by former players Eric O'Reilly (2005) and Eric Stukenherg (2003).

2010 NIU Alumni National Champion Roster
Bryan Abdallah (2008)
Steve Algozino (2007)
Matt Corcoran (2006)
Blake Gotkowski (2007)
Josh Karsten (2009)
Eric O'Reilly (2005)
Justin McGrane (2006)
Chris Rufa (2007)
Matt Stukenberg (2003)
Chris Van Duerm (2006)