Over the Weekend, the men of the NMU soccer team hosted GLIAC rival, St. Cloud on Sunday at home. The Wildcats came out on top of St. Cloud, shutting out the team 3-0. This puts the Wildcats at 5-4-5 overall on the season and 4-4-2 in conference play as the team heads into the final weekend of the regular season. Before the team claimed the victory, they stopped at Parkside midway through the week, where the Wildcats were unable to score, but held Parkside to no goals, resulting in a 0-0 tie.
“Last week was sort of an inflection point for us. So, rather than get ready for any specific opponent anymore, really, we’re fighting ourselves. Like, our opposition is ourselves. We’re our own worst enemy. The only team that’s going to beat us is going to be ourselves, and that’s what we’ve been kind of living by,” Head Coach Alex Fatovic said.
Following the tie game on Wednesday, the team traveled home and got ready for Sunday against St Cloud, hoping for some late-season momentum as postseason play is soon approaching.
That late-season momentum showed through as the Wildcats took over both halves of the game against St. Cloud. In the first half, the Wildcats scored one goal, courtesy of sophomore forward Ian Weimer, which set the tone for the game and his fellow Wildcats.
This goal also marks Weimer’s first goal of the season, coming at an important time for the Wildcats. Following the first half, the team lit up the field, with junior forward Luca Rosen adding two more goals to the Wildcats’ score. This performance from Rosen earned him GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week.
“He can score at any moment. So, he’s got that talent. We’re just trying to continue to push him…if he can continue to layer on this gritty, hard work, GLIAC style play combined with his ability to score, then he’s just going to be unstoppable, and that’s what we’re trying to push him towards,” Fatovic said.
This weekend, the Wildcats will play their final games of the regular season before the GLIAC Championship Tournament.
“It’s just continuing the mantra of we haven’t earned anything yet. You know, there’s still so much to play for. This club’s never won anything yet. So there’s no reason for anybody to feel like we’re entitled to anything, and that’s how we’re going to approach day by day, starting today,” Fatovic said.
The Wildcats will start the closeout of the regular season weekend first by hosting Roosevelt. The first game between these two teams this season ended in a Wildcat loss 1-0. The game will kick off on Halloween, Friday at 2pm.
Following the game on Friday, the team will turn its sights to its final game of the regular season while also honoring the seniors of the team. The last game will be between the Wildcats and Purdue Northwest on Sunday, Nov. 2 at 2pm. The senior class is made up of Goalkeeper Harry Grey, forward Max Rebori, midfielder Jan Hoffman, forward Triston Nelson, and defender Alessandro Scialanga.
