Story, photo courtesy of NMU Sports Information. Click the AUDIO button to hear Casey Ford's interview with Coach Alex Fatovic.
MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The NMU men's soccer team earned three points in its penultimate regular-season game, Friday, beating Davenport 3-2, in Marquette.
With the win, the Wildcats officially leapfrog Saginaw Valley State to sit alone atop the GLIAC table with one game left in the season. Thanks to the full three points, all NMU needs is a draw against the Cardinals on Sunday to be crowned regular season champion and host the GLIAC Tournament. Both would be the first time in program history. The Wildcats extend its home win streak to seven straight with the win.
It was an exciting back-and-forth opening 45 minutes to kick off a critical match for both teams, with both sides firing 10+ shot attempts. Kevin Hubbell opened the scoring at the 15-minute mark, but a phenomenal gather from Luca Rosen off an Asa Dean pass sprung the striker in all alone with the keeper, and finished decisively to equalize. Hubbell added his second of the match just on the other side of the half-hour mark, and with the wind in their face, the 'Cats would draw level with less than three minutes till the halftime whistle. A free kick from just outside the box landed in a mass of humanity before plays from Rosen and Noah Girard settled it to find the foot of James Carr, who smashed home his second of the season.
The Wildcats came out of the gate with energy, generating chances before finding a stroke of brilliance. Ian Weimer disrupted a free kick, and the ball landed to the foot of Julius Lemm. Lemm played a huge ball to the other end, and the race was on. Rosen proved to be faster than the opposition, and he streaked in one-on-one with the keeper and finished decisively to score his 16th of the season. \
In the match, the Wildcats outshot the Panthers 23-14, with 12 of those on target to four. After a relatively even 13-11 advantage in the first, the 'Cats dominated with the wind, outshooting Davenport 10-3 in the final 45.
Defensive regulars Davian Gumbs and Marcos Gallardo Rozano were both unavailable for today's contest, and both Isaac Cervantes and Jack Meyer stepped in to start. Cervantes, Carr, Xhoel Lutaj, and Noah Girard all played 90 minutes, and defender Sam Cooper turned in 67 minutes from the bench.
The Wildcats now look to Sunday, with destiny in its hands and staring at the face of a GLIAC Regular Season Championship. The first-place Wildcats and second-place Cardinals kick off from the NMU Soccer Field at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25.
Aside from Davenport scraping to stay alive in the conference, as they currently sit one point ahead of St. Cloud State for the final playoff spot, a poor result for the 'Cats could spell disaster for NCAA Tournament bids.
The Wildcats are honoring five seniors prior to kickoff on Sunday, and head coach Fatovic says getting a result for them on Sunday would be the cherry on top to a near-perfect season for his group.
"What a group of guys," said head coach Alex Fatovic when asked about his five seniors: Robert Wright, James Carr, Davian Gumbs, Asaf Kristal, and Luca Rosen. "What a group of guys. Besides the quality of athletes and players they are, and the dedication to the program, [they're] just great humans as well.
"When you have a group of seniors like this, and as they mature and get better both on the field and also in character development off the field, the better they become as humans and young men and growing into adults, [and] they become better players as well. It's really great to see that.
"I'm proud of them, I'm really excited for them to get this moment this week. They know they're playing for big things in their final regular season week of the year, and that's awesome. They've earned that. Whatever they do from this point on, you know, it's we could win this week, we could lose this week, it really doesn't matter. They've proven themselves."
