Sept. 17, 2008

Game Notes in PDF Format
Listen to Coach Simmons discuss the upcoming weekend.

DeKALB - Northern Illinois Head Men's Soccer Coach Steve Simmons prides himself in scheduling the best non-conference opponents he can find.

This weekend, the Huskies (4-0-2) will face the toughest opponent of Simmons' tenure, when they battle No. 2 SMU at the Tulsa Invitational. Northern Illinois faces the Mustangs (5-0-1), Friday at 5 p.m., and plays the tournament host, the Golden Hurricane, Sunday at 2 p.m.

"This is an exciting weekend because the guys have worked so hard to see where they measure up, and we're looking forward to competing with those guys," Simmons said.

Northern Illinois is off to its best start since 1998, when the Huskies went 6-0-1 before losing a match. NIU leads the MAC in every offensive category, including goals with 12 and points with 32. Nine different players have scored, with six goals coming from freshman.

Stellar defense has also been key in the Huskies' unbeaten run. Senior goalkeeper Joe Zimka (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Men's College Team of the Week for his part in shutting out Xavier and allowing Eastern Illinois just one goal last weekend.

Like the Huskies, SMU is undefeated through six matches on the year. The Mustangs have won their last two matches by a combined scored of 6-1, and their only tie is to sixth-ranked California.

"I tell the guys, when you play the teams like SMU, the top teams that we schedule year-in and year-out, you get a true measure of where you're at," Simmons said. "Now all the talking is done. Now you've got to put it on the field."

The Mustangs' scoring attack is led by senior forward Paulo de Silva, who has scored five goals and recorded two assists. All told, SMU has outscored opponents 14-3.

Two days after battling the Mustangs, the Huskies will take on Tulsa, who was ranked 15th in the nation just one week ago. Since that time, the Golden Hurricane (2-3-1) has lost two 1-0 decisions and fell out of the national rankings.

"Tulsa is a very good team," Simmons said. "They did hit a little bit of a bad patch this weekend, but make no mistake, they're a good side."

The Golden Hurricane was seeded 15th in last year's NCAA Tournament, and hold wins over Georgia Southern and Penn State, as well as a tie with Connecticut. Tulsa has struggled to score goals, with just five on the year, but the Golden Hurricane has allowed only five scores. Senior forward/midfielder Eric DeFreitas leads the team with two goals.

The Huskies return from the Sooner State to open the MAC season against Florida Atlantic, Friday, Sept. 26 at 1:30 p.m.