DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team will make the short trip into Chicago on Tuesday night, Oct. 18, when the Huskies visit the 13th-ranked Loyola Ramblers in their final non-conference match of the season. Game time against Loyola is slated for 7 p.m.

"Loyola is a highly-ranked team and for good reason," said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. "They are very organized, they are well-coached and they do a very good job to make sure they don't beat themselves. We are going to have to have a very good performance, I think we are going to have to try to push the tempo a little bit. We want to get forward with a bit more urgency when we can, but we also know that Loyola has some very good pieces in the attack, so when we are not on the ball we will have to be very organized.

"We are looking forward to the game, hopefully our guys will have a response from our performance on Saturday (against Akron) that was not our best to help make sure that we keep moving forward."

NIU takes a 1-7-4 record into the match against Loyola; the Ramblers will be the third ranked opponent NIU has faced this season, and the second consecutive after falling to No. 23 Akron on Saturday (Oct. 15). The Huskies also suffered a setback to No. 12 Utah Valley earlier this season (Sept. 11). NIU's last win over a ranked opponent came on Sept. 12, 2014, when the Huskies downed 23rd-ranked UIC in DeKalb

Loyola comes into Tuesday's contest with a 10-1-1 mark after playing to a 1-1 draw at Evansville on Saturday (Oct. 15). Loyola's lone blemish on the season was a 3-0 setback at then No. 10 Creighton on Sept. 27. Brody Kraussel, Elliot Collier and Alec Lasinski each have 12 points to lead the Ramblers offensively. Kraussel has two goals and eight assists while Collier and Lasinski each have five goals and two assists. Andrew Chekadanov has appeared in all 12 matches in goal for Loyola, he has a 0.58 goals against average and a .682 save percentage.

NIU leads the all-time series with Loyola, 13-5-3, but the two teams have met just twice since 2006. Last season, the Ramblers earned a 1-0 victory in DeKalb on a 44th minute goal from Jacob Thoreson (Oct. 21, 2015); two seasons ago NIU and Loyola played to a 0-0 draw in Chicago (Oct. 4, 2014).

Following Tuesday's contest, NIU will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 22, when the Huskies host Bowling Green. Game time against the Falcons is scheduled for 7 p.m.