Northern Michigan University’s Owen Rutledge, second from left, and Davian Gumbs, also in the air, go up for a header to keep the ball away from Wildcats’ goaltender Asaf Kristal, second from right in background, during a college men’s soccer game played against Lawrence Tech at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Sept. 6. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — With its conference schedule beginning this afternoon, the men’s soccer team at Northern Michigan University has gotten a real boost from defender Owen Rutledge.

The junior transfer was named Defensive Player of the Week in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference earlier this week after the Wildcats pulled off a pair of ties in their longest road trip of the season.

NMU traveled south to Romeoville, Illinois and battled to a scoreless deadlock against Lewis on Sept. 11, then headed east to Painesville, Ohio, and played to a 1-1 draw against Lake Erie on Sunday.

Rutledge, a transfer from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, Nebraska, has become a staple in the Wildcats’ lineup and played all but seven minutes overall, according to a news release from NMU Sports Information.

At his Nebraska school, he had three goals and eight assists in 34 games over two seasons.

He’s started all four games this year as Northern is now 1-0-3 with a home game against GLIAC foe Wisconsin-Parkside at noon today at the NMU Soccer Field. That’s the Wildcats’ last home game until Friday, Oct. 10, when they host Saginaw Valley State at noon.

Especially considering the road trip, Northern did quite well with two ties as Lewis is the reigning regular season champion of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and Lake Erie was a recent participant in the NCAA Division II national tournament.

Headed into the games, Lewis was ranked No. 6 and Lake Erie No. 8 in the Midwest Region that will help determine this year’s national tourney lineup.

And Rutledge played all 90 minutes of each game in the past week.

Rutledge helped lead the NMU defense to a shutout of Lewis, the first time in nine games the Flyers were held scoreless. Versus Lake Erie, he anchored a defense that limited the Storm to just two shot attempts in the first 84 minutes and four in all, their lowest output in their last 11 games.

“(I’m) very proud of Owen and the rest of the defense on their performance this weekend, allowing only one goal in two games on the road against the No. 6 and No. 8 teams in the region,” Wildcats head coach Alex Fatovic said to NMU SI. “Owen has made an instant impact since joining this fall and has only gotten better each game.

“Defensive Player of the Week to me is a team award; however, Owen stood even taller in both games. Great job, O!”

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing/previewing the games/meet. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.