Friday the 13th brought little luck to Northern Michigan University’s Men’s Soccer team as it split its final home series last weekend, falling to the Davenport Panthers while dominating the Purdue Northwest Pride on Sunday.
On Friday, Davenport rose over NMU in a 1-0 shutout victory as they advance to 5-3-1 in the GLIAC conference while the Wildcats remain at 1-8.
The Panthers hit the Wildcats with an offensive rush early in the game to which NMU could not answer.
“They have some real weapons that are hard to neutralize,” said Wildcat head coach Dave Poggi. “They quickly transition from defending the ball to offensive attacks.”
Davenport wasted no time with its offense as Lasse Pico Kjeldsen kicked his first goal of the season within the first seven minutes of the contest, ultimately the sole goal in the game.
“It came off a quick counter when we lost the ball,” Poggi said. “We couldn’t transition from going toward their goal to getting back to defend our own.”
NMU junior Kevin Hoof and sophomores Mirko Nufi, Callum Olpin and Nick Metcalfe all took shots in the first half but failed to convert.
Davenport stepped up its defense in the second half only allowing freshman Isaac Wigermo and sophomore Colton Becker to each take a shot, however, neither were able to score giving the Panthers the victory.
“We worked really hard to get a tie out of the game,” Poggi added. “Overall, I felt it was a pretty even matchup.”
On the defensive side, sophomore goalkeeper Filippo Torelli earned his second highest save total of the season with six.
In the final home game of the season, the Wildcats, now 2-8 in the GLIAC, powered over the Purdue Northwest Pride in a shutout victory of 2-0 on Sunday.
The Wildcats opened strong with a shot by Nick Metcalfe finding the net on an assist from Callum Olpin early in the game. This became Metcalfe’s first season goal, while Olpin got his first season assist.
“I was just happy I could get a goal for my team,” said Nick Metcalfe. “We came out ready to play and fought hard for every ball.”
The Wildcats held the Pride to just a pair of shots in the first half. Purdue began picking up the pressure in the second half by outshooting the Wildcats 8-6, but it would still be NMU who received another goal.
Mirko Nufi found the corner of the net after being awarded a penalty kick off the Pride’s goalkeeper.
“We have really been working on creating opportunities for us to score more,” said Nufi.
Sophomore goalkeeper Filippo Torelli created his third shutout for the season with three saves, reaching 37 for the season along with goals-against-average now marking 1.35. Torelli’s save total is third in the GLIAC and while his GAA reaches fifth best in the league.
“For me, it’s all about how I practice,” Torelli added. “I have to be 100 percent focused in practice in order to play 100 percent in the game.”
The Wildcats will hit the road this weekend for a pair of league matchups. They face Ashland University at 4:30 p.m. Friday and take on Tiffin University at noon on Sunday.
