MARQUETTE — Senior Eric Suess broke a 1-1 tie by scoring the winning goal in the 68th minute as the Northern Michigan University men’s soccer team prevailed 2-1 over Southern Indiana in the season opener for both team at the NMU Soccer Field on Thursday.

Suess’ third career goal came about six minutes after Southern Indiana, an NCAA Division II tournament team in 2018, tied it 1-1. He took a pass from Sveinn Karlsson, got in the air and headed the ball past the USI goalkeeper.

Northern led for nearly 40 minutes after another Northern senior, Callum Olpin scored on a penalty shot in the 23rd minutes after he was brought down while attacking in side the Screaming Eagles’ box. Olpin placed the ball in the bottom left corner for his sixth career goal.

All three players are part of NMU’s European connection — Suess is from Germany, Karlsson is from Iceland and Olpin from England.

The Wildcats held a narrow 9-8 shots advantage as Northern goalkeeper Patrick Restum made three saves.

NMU hits the road at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday for another nonconference game at Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.