MARQUETTE – A four-game homestand to start the season is part of a 10-game home schedule for the Northern Michigan University women’s soccer team next fall, the university announced on Tuesday.

The Wildcats play their only Upper Peninsula rival, Michigan Tech University, in Houghton on Sept. 21.

NMU plays 17 games in all, opening with four Minnesota schools at home – St. Cloud State on Sept. 5, Winona State on Sept. 7, Minnesota-Duluth on Sept. 12 and Minnesota Crookston on Sept. 14.

“The last few seasons we spent a lot of the time on the road and we are really excited to have a year when we will be playing the majority of our games at home in front of our crowd and on our field,” Northern head coach Matt Granstrand said.

“I thought we competed well in our conference last fall with a demanding travel schedule and are working hard this off-season. Hopefully the combination of our preparation and schedule will allow us to compete for a championship in 2014.”

The MTU game is the WIldcats’ first road contest, then is followed by away games at Ashland, Ohio, on Sept. 26 and downstate Madonna on Sept. 28.

Northern plays two more in a row at home, Walsh on Oct. 3 and Ohio Dominican on Oct. 5, before traveling to Ohio for game at Lake Erie on Oct. 10 and Malone on Oct. 12.

The Wildcats play four of their final six contests at home, hosting Tiffin on Oct. 17, Findlay on Oct. 19, Grand Valley State on Oct. 24 and Ferris State on Oct. 26; then finishing on the road at Northwood on Oct. 30 and Saginaw Valley State on Nov. 1.