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EDINBURG, Texas – The HBU men's soccer team heads south this weekend for a pair of neutral site games against Northern Illinois and Purdue Fort Wayne at the UTRGV Invitational.

HBU (1-0-1) opened the season unbeaten at the HBU Invitational, playing to a 2-2 draw against Siena behind a pair of Gianluca Natera goals before earning a hard-fought 1-0 overtime win against Saint Francis (Pa.) on a golden goal header by Jordi Cobo.

The Huskies open the UTRGV Invitational in a battle of the Huskies at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31, against Northern Illinois (1-1-0), a program HBU owns a 1-1-0 record against with previous meetings coming during the 1985 and 1987 seasons. In 1985, HBU lost 5-0 at NIU before earning a 2-1 victory in 1987 at a neutral site.

The NIU Huskies picked up a 1-0 overtime win at Cincinnati to open the season before falling at Green Bay by a score of 3-2. NIU is led offensively by Nick Markanich who owns a pair of goals, including the game-winner against Cincinnati. NIU also returns Jan Maertins who led the team with four goals and a pair of assists during the 2017 season in which the Huskies went 3-11-1.

On Sunday, Sep. 2, HBU faces Purdue Fort Wayne (1-1-0) at 10:30 a.m. The Huskies and Mastodons met once before at the UTRGV Invitational in 2015 with Purdue Fort Wayne coming out on top, 2-1.

This season, the Mastodons opened with a 5-0 win over NAIA-member Marian before falling to Wright State, 3-2, with both matches at home. Matthew Lieshout leads the team in scoring after recording a hat trick against Marian, including the game-winner. Meanwhile, Blake Cearns scored a goal in both games.   A year ago, the Mastodons finished the season with a 5-9-4 record.

The Huskies return to Sorrels Field next weekend for a pair of non-conference contests, first against Oral Roberts on Friday, Sep. 7, at 8:00 p.m. and then Central Arkansas at 1:00 p.m. on the afternoon of Sunday, Sep. 9.