DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team will conclude its five-game Mid-American Conference slate on Saturday evening, Nov. 4, as the Huskies travel to Akron. Game time against the Zips is slated for 6 p.m. CT and will be available on ESPN3. 

The trip to Akron will mark the second consecutive weekend that the Huskies have traveled to the Buckeye State. Last Saturday (Oct. 28), NIU ventured east to take on Bowling Green, falling to the Falcons, 3-1. The Huskies took the lead in the contest as sophomore Christian Molina (Katy, Texas/Mayde Creek) opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Bowling Green answered with three goals before the end of the first half as they went on to earn the victory. 

NIU sophomore goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./East Leyden) made a season-high eight saves against the Falcons. Dziedzic currently leads the MAC in saves per game with 4.3 stops per contest, he also ranks third in overall saves with 43. 

The setback against the Falcons eliminated NIU from contention to reach the MAC Tournament. 

Sophomore Jan Maertins (Rheinfelden, Germany/Georg-Buechner Gym) leads the Huskies in scoring with four goals and 10 points. With his goal against Bowling Green, Molina became the ninth different Huskie to score a goal this season. 

Akron enters Saturday's regular season finale with a 13-3-1 overall record and a 3-1-0 mark in conference play. The Zips are ranked 10th in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll and Akron senior Stuart Holthusen was named as the organization's national player of the week earlier this week. Akron defeated Marshall 2-0 on Wednesday (Nov. 1) and is currently on a seven-game win streak since falling at Western Michigan in their conference opener. 

Western Michigan currently leads the MAC with a perfect 4-0 record and has clinched the No. 1 seed and the right to host the MAC Tournament. Akron has secured the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament.