DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University men's soccer team hits the road for its final non-conference road match on Tuesday, Sept. 26, when the Huskies visit local rival UIC. Kickoff for the 27th all-time meeting between the Huskies and Flames is set for 7 p.m. 

NIU (3-5) will be returning to action for the first time since last Wednesday (Sept. 20), when the Huskies fell, 1-0, to Milwaukee in the annual match for the LeWang Trophy. Sophomore Konrad Dziedzic (Schiller Park, Ill./East Leyden) made five saves in goal against the Panthers. Dziedzic has played each of the last three matches in goal for the Huskies; he and senior Drew Donnally (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North) have evenly split the eight matches in goal for the Huskies. 

UIC brings a 2-5-1 record into Tuesday night's contest after topping Milwaukee, 2-1, on Saturday night in Milwaukee. Jesus Perez leads the Flames with two goals and three assists, both of his goals came in Saturday's victory over the Panthers. Sawyer Jackman has played six matches in goal for UIC, he has a 1.55 goals against average and a .722 save percentage while earning both wins for the Flames. 

Tuesday's matchup will mark NIU's first regular season visit to UIC since 2003, the two teams have met just three times since, all of which have taken place in DeKalb. UIC leads the overall series, 15-8-3, but NIU is unbeaten in the last three against the Flames (two wins and a draw). 

Last year, NIU and UIC played to a 1-1 draw in DeKalb (Oct. 4, 2016), Max Voss (Herten, Germany/Staedtisches Gymnasium Herten) scored the goal for the Huskies off assists from Jerome Roche (Salon-de-Provence, France/Gardner-Webb) and Kevin Rodriguez (Pasadena, Texas/Deer Park).

NIU will return to DeKalb on Tuesday, Oct. 3, when the Huskies host Valparaiso in their final non-conference game. Kickoff against the Crusaders is scheduled for 7 p.m.