Hartwick or Akron?

Both teams are a possibility for the Huskies in the MAC semifinals come next Friday, but the fate of that matchup will be determined today when NIU faces Western Michigan at 2 p.m. in its final home game of the regular season.

A win and the Huskies take on Hartwick; a loss and NIU will face No. 1 Akron; and with a tie, the Huskies will have to wait for the result of Saturday’s WMU-Buffalo match.

“It’s kind of a big deal,” NIU head coach Eric Luzzi said. “The goal, ultimately, is to get back to playing Akron, but I think we would rather see them in the final than in the semis.”

NIU dominates the all-time series 14-5-1 and has not lost to the Broncos since 2003.

The Huskies (10-6-1, 3-2-0) have won four out of their last five, shutting out their opponents three times, but Luzzi still knows that anyone could win on any day.

“It’s very fragile,” Luzzi said. “Even the best of teams are one off-day from a result that they don’t want. Western Michigan just tied Hartwick and they’re 2-1-1 in conference and they have been playing very well.”

Senior midfielder Luis De La Cerda, junior forward Hoyos, senior defender Josh Karsten and sophomore midfielder Brad Horton all combine for 21 of the team’s 31 total goals. De La Cerda leads NIU with six and Hoyos has the hot foot with three goals in the last two matches.

WMU (5-8-1, 2-1-1) is on a four match unbeaten streak and have scored five goals or more in four games this season.

“They’re very much improved from what they had,” Luzzi said. “They have a new coaching staff, a new attitude and a new culture. They’ve actually had quite a few pretty good results and quite a few games where they have scored three, four or five goals.”

Junior midfielder Saeed Sulemana Baba has led the Broncos attack this season, ranking second in the MAC with 12 goals and 26 points.

NIU has faced this type of test before with a match early in the day and in the week, but one factor will decide who comes out in third place.

“It’s going to be a tough one,” Luzzi said. “It’s one of those two o’clock mid-week games so it’s going to come down to which team comes out with more energy.”

All comments are moderated before being published. We will not edit your comments, but we also will not approve those that are abusive, off-topic, attack another poster or contain information we know to be libelous or false.

During peak weekday viewing times, most comments will be reviewed within six hours. For more detailed information, click here.

After submitting your comment, check below for a confirmation message.

• Your name:
• Enter text from image:
  

• Your comment:

* 300-character count. HTML formatting will not display.