After the ‘Cats started last week’s road trip with a draw against a tough Lewis team, NMU was unable to follow up against Thomas More in the second match of the weekend. The Saints had complete control of the first half, scoring two goals against the ‘Cats before the 35-minute mark.
“I thought we had a good plan going into Sunday’s game,” Head Coach Alex Fatovic said. “And a couple of our guys didn’t show up, unfortunately.”
Despite the 1-2 loss to the Saints, Fatovic was happy with how the team stayed composed, not conceding another goal for the remainder of the match. Second-year Erik Lotysz scored the lone goal for NMU on an assist by second-year Jan Hoffmann. Fatovic wanted to build on the lessons learned from the loss and will be looking for more energy from the team heading into conference play starting this weekend.
“It’s going to be more our attack, how are we going to score goals because one of the things we haven’t been able to do is create enough quality chances where we can finish our goals and put ourselves in a position where we’re up,” Fatovic said. “I think that’s been the biggest weakness so far.”
NMU will look for a pair of important wins on their home field for the first conference matches of the year against Davenport University and Saginaw Valley this weekend, both of which were teams in the GLIAC championships last year. NMU produced results against the two teams who have historically been superior and the ‘Cats will look to build on the progress Fatovic and the team made last season.
“We have to take the initiative and be the team on the front foot and make sure that no one steps on our field and tries to take the game to us,” Fatovic said. “So that’s the mentality that we’re going to have. We’re going to get out there today and start working on that.”
The ‘Cats will take the field against Davenport on Friday, Sept. 15 at 12 p.m. and will play again on Sunday, Sept. 17 at 3 p.m. against the Cardinals. SSA/MUSC will be hosting a tailgate on Sunday when the NMU women play at 12 p.m. and the men play at 3 p.m. Food will be provided, and players will also be available to sign retired balls (also provided)!
