DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team returns to action this weekend as it travels to Evansville, Ind., for the ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic. As announced earlier in the week, this weekend's matches have been moved back one day due to expected inclement weather, NIU will face Bradley at 4:30 p.m., on Saturday, Sept. 2 and Evansville at 2:30 p.m., on Monday, Sept. 4.

The Huskies come into the weekend with a 1-0 record after a dramatic, 3-2 overtime victory last Friday (Aug. 25) against DePaul. Junior Adrian Coardos (Evanston, Ill./Niles North) scored the game-winning goal in the 97th minute to lift the Huskies over the Blue Demons. The victory was the first at NIU for new head coach Ryan Swan and was also the 400th in program history.

Coardos' overtime goal was the first of his collegiate career, junior Nicholas Haas (Waukegan, Ill./Warren Township) also scored his first career goal against the Blue Demons while junior Giovanni Pacheco (Pasadena, Texas/Pasadena) tallied the second goal of his NIU career. 

After just one game last weekend, the Huskies will have a new challenge this week as they manage two games in three days. 

"We are focusing on Bradley right now," said Swan. "The games will be very different, between Saturday and Monday. We will look at personnel and will probably see more bodies on the field over the course of the weekend as we try to manage both games. But right now the focus is primarily on Bradley and trying to make sure we have a positive result on Saturday."

Bradley comes into the weekend with a 0-1 record after falling to Gonzaga last Sunday (Aug. 27). The Braves were originally slated to face Texas Rio Grande Valley and Houston Baptist last weekend in Houston but were forced to change their plans due to Hurricane Harvey. 

NIU and Bradley will be meeting for the 19th time, with NIU leading the series 10-5-3, but the first time since 2010 when the Huskies defeated the Braves, 2-0, in Peoria (Sept. 24, 2010). 

Evansville enters their tournament this weekend with a 2-0 record, having defeated Anderson (Ind.), 9-0, and Marshall, 1-0. The Purple Aces finished 2016 with a 10-8-3 record, including a 4-2-2 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference. NIU and Evansville will be meeting for just the second time, the first meeting coming in Cincinnati, Ohio on Sept. 6, 2013, a 3-2 overtime victory for the Purple Aces. 

Following this weekend's tournament in Evansville, the Huskies will return home to host the NIU Adidas Invitational. On Friday, Sept. 8, NIU will entertain Stetson before welcoming Texas Rio Grande Valley to the NIU Soccer Complex on Sunday, Sept. 10.