The Men’s Soccer team returned to Marquette with a first ever shutout win and took home a win against No. 12 ranked team in the nation Tiffin University Dragons on their own turf this past weekend. The ’Cats brought back a 2-1 win from the Dragons Friday, Sept. 23 at Paradiso Athletic Field.
Freshman left midfielder Edgar Astorga scored the game winning goal in the 87th minute to put NMU ahead 2-1. Astorga was named Men’s Soccer GLIAC player of the week this week.
Wildcats head coach, David Poggi said the game winning goal was one made to play in the classic ESPN highlight video.
“We had that same kind of sense in it. I think we wanted the game more than we wanted any other game this year, and the winning goal came off of an unbelievable effort,” Poggi said. “I don’t know if it will be on ESPN classic highlight video, but for us it would be this weekend.”
The Wildcats are on a 3-game win streak after defeating Findlay University 2-0 Sunday, Sept. 25 at DeHaven Field. This is the first shutout in NMU Men’s Soccer
history. NMU junior goalie Brin Lapuh said the team played aggressively, not leaving any opportunity for a goal.
“As a goalkeeper, I can say at least half of the games should be shutouts,” Lapuh said. “We have just been so unlucky, but defensive line—we started to know each other and the chemistry is there. We started to fight for every ball, block every shot and that’s why it happened.”
Currently the ’Cats have a 3-4 record overall, 3-3 in the GLIAC setting them at No. 5. Freshman right midfielder Svienn Karlsson is leading the ’Cats in points totalling 10 overall. He is currently ranked third in the GLIAC in assists with a total of four points.
Lapuh said the boys had a bad start to the season and since they are a new program they could be underestimated—nobody knows them.
“We’ve got to do our best, not just for the coaching staff or each other but for the fans as well. They deserve to enjoy quality soccer and wins with us,” Lapuh said.
NMU Men’s Soccer will defend home turf against the Saginaw Valley State University Cardinals at 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30 at the NMU Soccer Field .
The Cardinals are currently on a 4-game winning streak.
So far Saginaw Valley’s losses were both on away turf, one against Northwood University and the other defeat to Findlay University. The Cardinals have a 2-2 away game record, 6-2 overall.
Junior forward Matt Wilson has totaled 18 points so far this season, ranking him first in the conference for points and in goals. Wilson is also ranked second in assists with a total of four.
The ’Cats will host Northwood University Timberwolves 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 2. Northwood is ranked third in the conference with a 3-1-2 GLIAC record.
This past weekend the Timberwolves went into double overtime in both games, each game ending in a tie.
Timberwolves freshman goalie Brendan Brown is currently ranked third in the GLIAC recording a total of 22 saves. Lapuh is just below totaling 20 saves so far this season.
Astorga said the team is a big family, just getting to know each other, definitely a work in progress and aiming to be its best.
“I know we just came off two good games, but we have to take it game by game. We can’t get over-confident just because we beat No.12 in the nation,” Astorga said. “I know Saginaw Valley andNorthwood are two tough opponents in our conference, so we’re really going to have to bring our A game to this weekend.”
Last year, Northwood University eliminated SVSU during the semifinals round of the Midwest Regionals in the 2015 NCAA Division II Tournament.
