DEKALB, Ill. -- The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team will begin its five-match Mid-American Conference schedule on Saturday night, Oct. 7, as the Huskies travel to West Virginia. Kickoff between the Huskies and Mountaineers in Morgantown is slated for 6 p.m. CT. 

With a league opener against West Virginia, MAC play picks up for the Huskies right where it left off a season ago as the Huskies hosted the Mountaineers in the final game of the season in 2016. NIU earned a 2-1 double overtime victory in that contest, coming from behind with a 79th minute goal from Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) and an overtime winner in the final minute from Max Voss (Herten, Germany/Staedtisches Gymnasium Herten). 

NIU (3-7) heads to the Mountain State on the heels of a 3-2 setback on Tuesday (Oct. 3) against Valparaiso. Juniors Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park) and Noah Brodie (Scottsdale, Ariz./Carbondale Community) found the back of the net against the Crusaders. NIU's leading scorer this season, sophomore Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Georg-Buechner Gym), who has four goals and one assist, missed the midweek matchup against Valparaiso. 

The Mountaineers are 6-3-2 entering Saturday's conference opener but have dropped back-to-back games against Pittsburgh (Sept. 26) and Pacific (Oct. 1). Albert Andres-Llop leads West Virginia in scoring with four goals and two assists. Stephen Banick has started all 11 matches in goal for the Mountaineers, he has a 1.07 goals against average and a .718 save percentage. 

Saturday's matchup will be the seventh all-time meeting between the Huskies and Mountaineers, all of which have taken place since West Virginia joined the MAC in 2012. NIU holds a 3-2-1 edge all-time in the series with both of West Virginia's victories coming in Morgantown. 

NIU will continue conference play next Saturday, Oct. 14, when the Huskies host 12th-ranked Western Michigan. Game time against the Broncos is scheduled for 7 p.m.