This past weekend, the NMU men’s soccer team traveled for the last time during the regular season playing Saginaw Valley State. The ‘Cats came close to the win with a final score of 2-3 but fell short late in the second half. One of NMU’s goals came from junior forward Cian Tunney and the other came from sophomore midfielder Noah Johnson. The following match ended in a 0-0 tie.

“Obviously, the season hasn’t gone the way we expected and that’s how sports go,” Head Coach Alex Fatovic said. “You can tell that this team still fights for each other and that their camaraderie and their spirit is pretty high … Again, it just shows the character of this group of guys, and even though the results haven’t necessarily gone our way there’s not a group of guys I would rather go out to battle with.”

This weekend, NMU will host their last game of the regular season at home honoring their seniors. One of the seniors, midfielder Keegan Schmidt, broke the record on Sunday for playing the most games in the history of the NMU men’s soccer program.

“You couldn’t ask for a better group of human beings and characters,” Fatovic said. “Obviously Schmidt, setting the record for the most games played for the program, but I think all of them, in terms of the development of our culture, the camaraderie, the maturity, the respect that they have for Northern I think [are] going to be a big loss. So, it’s obviously an emotional day and hopefully we can get to play all of them and give them an opportunity to play in the last home game.”

The Wildcats will host the St. Cloud Huskies on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 1 p.m. on the soccer field located behind the Superior Dome. NMU is 4-2 against the Huskies since the two started playing each other after St. Cloud joined the GLIAC for soccer in 2021.

“It’s obviously an important day for us as a team for right now and the current state we’re in but also it’s important for the seniors to celebrate their time and accomplishments here [at] Northern,” Fatovic said.