Players on the Northern Michigan University men’s soccer team huddle together on the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Wednesday afternoon during the Wildcats’ game against St. Cloud State. (Photo courtesy NMU)

MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University men’s soccer team dominated play just above everywhere but where it counted the most, the scoreboard, at the NMU Soccer Field on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite outshooting St. Cloud State 20-4, the Wildcats fell 2-0 in a GLIAC match to leave them with a 4-3-1 record, including 1-3 in the GLIAC. St. Cloud won its sixth straight and continues to lead the conference at 4-0 while improving to 6-2 overall.

“Full credit to my lads,” Northern head coach Alex Fatovic said in an NMU Sports Information news release about the game. “You’d have to see the game to know the true story. Twenty shots to four, 12 corner (kick)s to three, 70% possession, just everything but the finish.

“I’m not sure how we found a way to lose this one, but sometimes, it’s just not your day. But I have one of the most close, tough and resilient groups of guys I’ve ever seen.

“We know we can play, we just need to find a way to get back on track in front of goal, and we will.”

Because of the odd race in the league — only St. Cloud is above .500 — NMU is just one game behind four second-place teams that are all 1-1 or 1-1-1.

On what was likely the windiest match for Northern this season, the Wildcats won the coin toss and took that wind at their backs in the first half.

It seemed to be good choice, according to NMU SI, as Northern dominated possession and offensive chances throughout the first half, outshooting St. Cloud 9-1 and earning eight of the 10 corner kicks called.

The Huskies’ only shot on goal came on what was termed a questionable penalty kick call during the 29th minute as SCSU’s Philip Caputo found the back of the net for what would be a 1-0 lead at intermission.

Before that, Northern’s Tommaso Lami dribbled the ball into the 18-yard box and took a shot in the game’s first five minutes. The shot was deflected by a defender, giving NMU a corner kick that wasn’t converted into a shot.

Northern actually had three corner kicks before the game was seven minutes old.

Then setting up St. Cloud’s goal, Caputo was ruled to be fouled inside the box by the Wildcats’ Jaziel Sainz de Vilmorin that called for the high-percentage penalty kick.

Later in the first half, the Huskies’ Ramy Atia was given a yellow card for fouling NMU’s Davian Gumbs just outside the 18-yard box. Northern’s Xhoel Lutaj took the free kick that went just over the crossbar.

In the second half, now with the wind in the Wildcats’ faces, Lami drove into the box and was brought down, earning his own penalty kick. But his shot toward the bottom right corner of the net was swatted away by St. Cloud netminder Atia to preserve the Huskies’ lead.

Though NMU was still dominating possession and chances, Caputo put in another goal in the 82nd minute, already his 10th this season, for insurance. He scored from the halfway mark of the field, using the wind to catch Northern goaltender Nils Cedergren off his line.

Though the Wildcats’ total shots advantage was huge, it was much narrower in shots on goal, 3-2.

Lami and Alessandro Scialanga each took four shots for NMU, with Lami, Sainz de Vilmorin and Teun Van Gansewinkel getting the shots on goal.

The Wildcats complete this four-game homestand by hosting GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt at 3 p.m. Sunday back at the NMU Soccer Field.

After playing a pair of road games the following weekend on Oct. 11 at Davenport and Oct. 13 at Saginaw Valley State, Northern returns home at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18, to host SVSU.

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