West Virginia hosts Northern Illinois, looks to rebound from 3-1 loss to Western Michigan

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia finishes its two-game home conference series Friday hosting Northern Illinois at 7 p.m.

“We’re expecting another big challenge on Friday night with NIU,” WVU coach Marlon LeBlanc said. “They are a very good team, and we’ll need to be at our best if we want to earn a result on our field. We’re very much looking forward to another opportunity to play.”

Both the Mountaineers (6-5-1, 0-1 MAC) and Huskies (5-7-1, 0-1 MAC) are winless in the early-conference season. WVU is coming off a 3-1 loss to Western Michigan on Sunday, while NIU comes to Morgantown following a 2-1 loss to SIU Edwardsville on Saturday.

West Virginia is ranked No. 2 in the MAC in corner kicks (71) and No. 3 in the league in goals scored (20) and points per game (5.4).

Andres Muriel Albino is ranked No. 2 in the MAC in goals scored (6) and his 13 points rank him No. 3. Freshman midfielder Luke McCormick leads WVU and is tied for the conference lead in assists (5).

For NIU, Nick Markanich leads the Huskies with five goals, 32 shots and 13 shots on goal, and is tied to lead the team in points (11). Freshman GK Martin Sanchez is projected to begin for the Huskies, and has 31 saves this year.

Friday marks the ninth time the teams have faced with the all-time series tied at 3-3-2. Additionally, WVU has never lost to the Huskies in Morgantown.