DEKALB, Ill. – Fresh off of winning a share of the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title, the Northern Illinois University men's soccer team will host Western Michigan on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 9, at 1 p.m. in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Quarterfinals at the NIU Soccer and Track and Field Complex. 

Admission to Sunday's contest is free of charge and the game will also be available on ESPN+.

Seeded third in the conference tournament, NIU closed the regular season with a 4-0 victory over Bowling Green on Wednesday (Nov. 5). Roman Khela (Huddersfield, England) opened the scoring against the Falcons and Martin Montoya (Hinsdale, Ill./Hinsdale Central) added a second inside the opening 10 minutes. Niko Angulo (Dallas, Texas/Allegiance Academy) scored early in the second half and Montoya netted again as the Huskies cruised to the victory. NIU improved to 8-4-4 win the win, including 3-1-3 in league play, the Huskies are 5-1-3 in their last nine matches. 

Wednesday's win helped the Huskies share the league title with Drake and Evansville, marking the second time in five seasons that NIU had won a regular season conference championship. The Huskies won the Mid-American Conference crown in 2021. 

Five players have more than 10 points for the Huskies this season, led by 17 from Vance Sheffield (West Linn, Ore./La Salle Catholic College Prep) (six goals, five assists). Montoya has 13 points (five goals, three assists) while Katai Mukuka (Lusaka, Zambia), Angulo and Jose Gomez (Roatan, Honduras) each have 12 points. 

Western Michigan comes to DeKalb seeded sixth in the MVC Tournament with a 5-9-3 overall record, 2-2-3 in the league. Jonathan Stout leads the Broncos with five goals and 10 points. Western Michigan has lost just once in its last six matches, with that setback coming last time out at UIC, 2-1 (Nov. 5). 

In the first meeting of the season, NIU and Western Michigan played to a 0-0 stalemate in Kalamazoo on Oct. 11, 2025. Western Michigan was credited with a 15-10 advantage in shots, but Bronco goalkeeper Alex Lindewirth made five saves with NIU goalkeeper Atahan Arslan (Ismir, Turkiye) made four stops.

NIU is making its second appearance in the MVC Tournament in its three seasons as a member of the league. The Huskies advanced to the semifinals in 2023 before falling to top-seeded Western Michigan, 3-1, after extra time. 

The winner of Sunday's quarterfinals will travel to face second-seeded Drake on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. at Mediacom Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.