The Northern Illinois Huskies men's soccer team is the

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

team that represents

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

(NIU) in DeKalb,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, United States. The school's team competed in NIU's full-time home of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) through the 2022 season, after which the conference stopped sponsoring men's soccer. NIU moved that sport to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

(MVC) effective with the 2023 season, joining fellow MAC members

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

and

Western Michigan West Michigan and Western Michigan are terms for a region in the U.S. state of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Generally, it refers to the Grand Rapids- Muskegon-Holland area, and more broadly to most of the region along the Lower Peninsula's Lake ...

in this move. NIU men's soccer started playing in 1962 and has appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times (1973, 2006, 2011, 2021). The Huskies are coached by Ryan Swan. The 2025 season will be the Huskies' last in the MVC. On July 1, 2026, NIU will rejoin the

Horizon League The Horizon League is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the league's eleven member schools are located in ...

, in which it had been a member from 1994 to 1997 (1994–1996 seasons).

Season-by-season records

*Source: NIU Men's Soccer Record Book

NCAA tournament

The Huskies have appeared in four NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 3–4.

Lewang Cup

Since 1981, the winner of the annual match between NIU and UW-Milwaukee claims the John Lewang Memorial Cup. The trophy is named in honor of former NIU coach John Lewang, who was killed in a car accident prior to the 1981 season. Lewang came to NIU as head coach in 1980 following his time as an assistant at UW-Milwaukee and died in a car accident after his first season leading the Huskies.

Match results

Honours

* Mid-American Conference tournament: ** Winners (3): 2006,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

** ''Runners-up (3):'' 1999, 2008, 2012 * Mid-American Conference regular season: ** Winners (2): 2006, 2021 ** ''Runners-up (5):'' 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012 *

Mid-Continent Conference The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States, from Minnesota in the east, to the Dakotas, Nebraska and Colorado to the West, and Mis ...

regular season: ** Winners (1): 1990 *

Big Central Soccer Conference The Big Central Soccer Conference was a Division I soccer conference in the NCAA. It was originally known as the Big Central Six Soccer Conference. The founding members were Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIU Edwardsville or SIUE), Qu ...

tournament: ** Winners (1): 1989 * Midwest Metropolitan Conference regular season: ** Winners (1): 1984 ** ''Runners-up (3):'' 1982, 1983, 1985

Honors

All-Americans

NIU men's soccer has had seven players named to

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

teams, including two NCAA First-Team All-Americans.

Academic All-Americans

NIU men's soccer has had a combined 13 players named to CoSIDA and

NSCAA The United Soccer Coaches (formerly known as the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)) is an organization of American soccer coaches founded in 1941. It is the largest soccer coaches organization in the world, with more than ...

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are give ...

teams, including four First-Team Academic All-Americans.

Freshman All-Americans

NIU men's soccer has had two players named to College Soccer News All-Freshman teams.College Soccer News All-Freshman Team Archives
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Coaches of the Year

NIU men's soccer has had three head coaches named

Coach of the Year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and association football — the award is called the "Manager of the Year" award. Some of the ...

by the conference.

References

External links

* {{Horizon League men's soccer navbox