DEKALB, Ill. – Seven regular season home games highlight the 2017 Northern Illinois University men's soccer schedule under first-year head coach Ryan Swan. The Huskies will kickoff the season with a Cardinal and Black Scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 13. 

"I am very happy with the 2017 schedule," said Swan. "We have good regional opponents and the addition of SIUE to the MAC makes for a great in-state rivalry. Overall, this will be a tremendous test for our team and I can't wait to get on the field to officially start preparing."

After a pair of exhibition contests against Loyola (Aug. 15) and at Drake (Aug. 19), the Huskies will officially begin the Ryan Swan era with a home game against DePaul on Friday, Aug. 25. The matchup will be the first between the Huskies and Blue Demons since 2010.

NIU will hit the road for the first time in the regular season when it meets Bradley and Evansville in the Aces Soccer Classic. The Huskies will begin the tournament against Bradley on Friday, Sept. 1 before meeting the host school, Evansville, on Sunday, Sept. 3. 

The following weekend, NIU will welcome Stetson and Texas-Rio Grande Valley to DeKalb for the annual NIU adidas Invitational. The Huskies open the tournament against Stetson on Friday, Sept. 8, the Hatters will be making their second appearance in the tournament in three seasons. NIU will meet UTRGV on Sunday, Sept. 10. The Vaqueros are entering their third season since returning to Division I soccer. 

The Huskies will travel west to Orem, Utah for their third-consecutive Friday-Sunday weekend on Sept. 16-18. NIU will meet Omaha on Friday, Sept. 16 and Sacramento State on Sunday, Sept. 18, with both matches hosted by Utah Valley. The Huskies will be meeting both the Mavericks and Hornets for the first time in school history. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 20, the Huskies will return home to host Milwaukee in the annual LeWang Trophy matchup. NIU reclaimed the trophy with a 2-1 victor on the road last season. A pair of road games at Western Illinois (Sept. 23) and UIC (Sept. 26) will be followed by the final non-conference game of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 3, when the Huskies host Valparaiso. 

NIU's five-game Mid-American Conference slate will begin on Saturday, Oct. 7, when the Huskies travel to Morgantown, W. Va., for a date with the Mountaineers of West Virginia. Last season, Max Voss lifted NIU to a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over the Mountaineers with a goal in the 110th minute. 

The two conference home dates of the season will take place on back-to-back weekends when the Huskies host Western Michigan on Saturday, Oct. 14 and SIU Edwardsville on Saturday, Oct. 21. NIU and WMU played to a scoreless draw last season in Kalamazoo while the Huskies played SIUE to a 1-1 draw last year in a non-conference contest to open the season. The Cougars will be playing their first season as an affiliate member of the MAC in 2017. 

NIU will conclude the regular season with a pair of trips to the State of Ohio. The Huskies will visit Bowling Green on Saturday, Oct. 28, before traveling to Akron on Saturday, Nov. 4. NIU was victorious in its last trip to Bowling Green when Giovanni Garcia netted the lone goal in a 1-0 overtime victory (Oct. 3, 2015). 

The Mid-American Conference Tournament will take place the following weekend, Nov. 10-12, and once again be hosted by the regular season champion.