NMU men tie, women lose 1-0
Northern Michigan University freshmen midfielder Kaffie Kurz, front center right, collides with Ashland's John Duldner (5) as they try to head the ball during the first overtime period in their GLIAC men's soccer game played at the NMU Soccer Field on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)
MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University played to a draw in the men’s game and lost in the women’s game as the Wildcats’ soccer teams played their final home matches of the regular season at the NMU Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon.
The NMU men played two overtimes in a 2-2 tie with Ashland, while the Northern women fell 1-0 to Purdue Northwest.
Both teams go on the road for the final two weekends of the regular season.
The men play at Purdue Northwest at 2:30 p.m. Friday, then go to Davenport on Sunday afternoon before finishing things off at Northwood on Friday, Oct. 26.
The women are at Ashland at 5 p.m. Friday, go to Saginaw Valley State on Sunday afternoon and wrap up the regular season at Michigan Tech at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26.
NMU men 2, Ashland 2
Forward Sam Popp, one of four seniors on the team honored before the game on Senior Day, scored in the sixth minute to improve his Northern single-season records of eight goals and 18 points.
NMU (6-3-4, 3-2-4 GLIAC) went up 2-0 barely more than seven minutes later when sophomore midfielder Luca Lippert scored his third goal of the season, taking a ball sent to the top of the box by senior forward Nic Harenda and bouncing it off the post and in. Harenda got his eighth assist, also an NMU season record.
The two-goal lead held up for nearly 50 minutes until the Eagles’ Joseph Renner scored on a tap-in following a free kick. But the Wildcats still had the lead until the 88th minute, when Ashland’s Justin Libertowski forced OT with his goal.
Each team had nine shots on goal in regulation and one shot on goal in the first OT, with Ashland (4-8-2, 3-6-1) getting the only shot on goal in the second OT as Northern freshman goalkeeper Valentin Kliebe finished with eight saves. Kliebe has 52 saves and a 0.79 goals against average, each second best in the GLIAC, while his .867 save percentage is tops in the league.
In addition to Popp and Harenda, the other NMU seniors honored Sunday were midfielder Carson Burmeister and defender Kevin Hoof.
PNW 1, NMU women 0
Hard-luck Northern lost its sixth straight game, all coming by one goal — four 1-0 contests and the other two 2-1.
After no shots on goal in the game’s first 15 minutes, NMU rang up a 6-4 advantage in that category by the end of the first half with Wildcats junior defender Gaelin Hirabayashi getting two.
Northern continued to control the ball for much of the second half, but it was Purdue Northwest that got the only score in the 76th minute on a shot across the box and into the top corner of the net by Shelby Ross.
NMU senior goalkeeper and Sault Ste. Marie resident Emma Vermette made five saves. She has 45 for the season, fifth best in the GLIAC, while her .865 save percentage is No. 2 in the conference.
Wildcats freshman midfielder Caroline Halonen had six shots in all, three on goal, while junior forward Jaime Montgomery and freshman forward Taelor Moore had five shots each.
In addition to Vermette, the other NMU seniors honored Sunday were midfielders Aimee Colla and Maddie Herbert, forward Alaina Perry and defenders Anna Worman and Sophia Sachs.
Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
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