Getting closer and closer to its final destination, the NIU men’s soccer team will make one last stop in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Before the Huskies enter the MAC tournament next week, the team will face Western Michigan in its final regular season game, at 1 p.m. today.

With a win today, the team can clinch second place in its conference.

NIU (8-5-4 overall, 3-1-1 MAC) enters its last match after losing two in a row against Wisconsin and Duke.

“I think we were disappointed with the last two results,” said head coach Steve Simmons in his weekly podcast, aired on www.niuhuskies.com. “There were a lot of things that were in our control to get better results. But as we take things away from those two games, I think we feel really good about what we need to do against Western Michigan.”

The Broncos also are coming off a loss, as they fell to the unbeaten Akron Zips 2-0.

With the loss, the team dropped to 2-2-0 in the MAC. Despite its .500 mark in conference play, Western Michigan is only 3-12-1 overall. Simmons, however, noted that conference play is always tough, and overall records can be deceiving.

“That’s the beauty of most conference play to be honest with you,” said Simmons. “Conference play is tricky. We are going into Western with the fullest respect, and knowing they are capable of winning some games.”

Simmons mentioned Western’s recent 3-0 victory over Bowling Green.

“We were only able to score one against Bowling Green,” he said. “Things like that, on a statistical level, really back up your statement that anything can happen. Anything can happen, which is a good thing; we just have to be at our best.”

The sixth-year coach also said today’s match-up will help set the table for the MAC tournament next week.

The Huskies are working on capitalizing on scoring opportunities, and lead the league in averaging almost 17.5 shots per game.

The Broncos will have to step up to that mark this afternoon, as they rank last in the MAC with 8.8 shots per game.

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