DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team hits the road for the final time in the regular season when the Huskies travel to Buffalo on Friday, Oct. 28. The Huskies and Bulls are scheduled to kickoff at 6 p.m. CT at UB Stadium. 

NIU heads to Buffalo following a week of training since falling last Saturday (Oct. 22) to Bowling Green, 1-0, at home. The Huskies enter Friday's contest with one point in conference play (1-9-4, 0-2-1 MAC), two points behind Western Michigan and West Virginia for the final spot in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. 

"There is no way around it, we have to get a result tomorrow," said NIU head coach Eric Luzzi. "Buffalo is a good team, they have a lot of wins and have scored a lot of goals. They are pretty good at home, so we know it is going to be a tough battle. I've been encouraged by our response, last Saturday was a tough game, we poured a lot into the game and played pretty well, we just didn't get anything out of it. I've been happy with the response, we have had a good couple days of training and if we bring that same approach and mentality we will be in a position to get something out of the game."

Buffalo brings a 9-3-2 overall record, 1-1-1 in league play, into the match on Friday. Russell Cicerone leads the Bulls with 32 points on 12 goals and eight assists; Cicerone is tied for fifth nationally in goals and ranks third in points. Joseph Kuta has played all 14 matches in goal for Buffalo, he has a 0.97 goals against average and a .774 save percentage. 

For the first time this month, NIU did not play a midweek match, giving the Huskies the full week to prepare for Buffalo.

"We have had three very good days of training," said Luzzi. "We were able to have a hard training session for the first time in a few weeks on Tuesday. It is always good when we get an extended time to train and have a bit more rhythm in the week."

Last season, NIU and Buffalo played to a 1-1 draw in DeKalb (Oct. 24, 2015), Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) scored the goal for the Huskies. NIU leads the overall series with Buffalo, 11-10-3. 

NIU will close the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 5, when it hosts West Virginia. Game time against the Mountaineers on Senior Night is scheduled for 7 p.m.