DEKALB, Ill. – First-year head coach Ryan Swan takes charge of his first regular season game on Friday, Aug. 25 as the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team hosts DePaul in its first regular season game of the 2017 season. The Huskies and Blue Demons are scheduled to kickoff at 6:30 p.m., at the NIU Soccer Complex. 

Free pizza will be provided to NIU students attending Friday night's match while supplies last. 

"We have been waiting for this for a long time now, to get to the first game," said Swan. "We are excited that it is here, we feel like we are pretty well prepared and we will find out (Friday night). 

"I think the first game of the season is always exciting and being my first year here at NIU adds a little something (for me). Hopefully we are prepared, and the guys are prepared, to come out and give a good performance and get things started right."

NIU returns 15 letterwinners and seven starters from a season ago, while also welcoming 10 newcomers to DeKalb. 

The group of returnees for the Huskies is led by seniors Drew Donnally, Luke Read and Jerome Roche, along with juniors Kevin Rodriguez and Max Voss. Donnally started 14 matches in goal for the Huskies in 2016 while Read and Roche each started all 16 matches along the backline, Read also has five goals in his 37 career appearances as a Huskie. 

Rodriguez was the 2015 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year and picked up five points during his sophomore campaign last season while Voss is NIU's leading returning scorer, having found the back of the net three times as a sophomore in 2016.  

DePaul comes to NIU after a preseason that saw the Blue Demons play to a 1-1 draw against Western Michigan (Aug. 13) and beat Western Illinois 3-1 (Aug. 19). DePaul posted a 9-7-3 record a season ago, including a 4-5-0 mark in the Big East. 

"It think playing another Chicagoland team gives it a little extra spice," Swan said of opening with DePaul. "DePaul is a good team, they play in a good conference and we expect them to be well-coached and to be a very tough opponent. I think that is ideal for us to get a proper look and gauge of where we are at, to play against a good team and see how we matchup."

Despite being separated by less than 75 miles, Friday's match between the Huskies and Blue Demons will be the first meeting since 2010, when the two school's played to a 0-0 draw in Chicago. NIU leads the all-time series against DePaul, 13-2-3, but both of DePaul's two victories have come in the last four matchups. 

Following Friday's home opener, the Huskies will hit the road to travel to Evansville for the ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic. NIU will meet Bradley at 4:30 p.m., on Friday, Sept. 1 before playing the hosts, Evansville, on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 2:30 p.m.