Northern Michigan University’s Luca Rosen, left, follows through on his kick as Wisconsin-Parkside's Yeison Santos tries to block it during a GLIAC game played at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette last Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — The men’s soccer team at Northern Michigan University plays two games on the road this weekend as part of a two-week road trip in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play.

The Wildcats travel to Hammond, Indiana, to take on Purdue Northwest at 2 p.m. EDT today, then come back around the southern end of Lake Michigan to Chicago to face Roosevelt at 3:30 p.m. EDT Sunday.

Northern remains on the road next week, playing a single game at St. Cloud State on Sunday, Oct. 5, before returning home to the NMU Soccer Field the following week for a pair of games, the first one against Saginaw Valley State at noon on Friday, Oct. 10.

NMU is 1-1-3 overall and 0-1 in conference after a 3-1 home loss to Wisconsin-Parkside last Friday.

Northern is trying to return to the Midwest Regional rankings, which they had been No. 9 in the poll before the loss to Parkside.

The Wildcats’ two opponents this weekend tied each other 2-2 at Purdue NW last week in their first GLIAC game as Purdue NW is 1-4-1 overall and Roosevelt 2-1-3.

Roosevelt has moved into No. 8 in the Midwest ratings after being conference regular-season co-champions in 2024, also losing to fellow co-champion Saginaw Valley State in penalty kicks in the GLIAC Tournament championship game.

Wildcat fans can follow @NMU_Msoc on Instagram and @NMU_Mens_Soccer on X (formerly Twitter) for updates leading up to and during matches. Or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the men’s soccer schedule for links to live video, live statistics and game previews.

“Purdue is a tough place to play and Roosevelt is defending co-champions,” Northern head coach Alex Fatovic said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the games. “Any time you go on the road in the GLIAC, nothing is easy; you’re away from home and you’re out of your routine, so right now we’re focusing on Purdue before we turn our attention to Roosevelt.”

So far this season, the Wildcats have generated good numbers of scoring chances, ranking second in the league with 12.8 overall shots per game and third with 4.8 corner kicks each contest. NMU outshoots its opponents 64-47 overall and 26-19 in shots on goal, also holding a corner kicks edge of 24-16.

Northern sophomore forward Teun van Gansewinkel and junior forward Luca Rosen lead the GLIAC with 16 overall shots each, Rosen also ranking second with nine shots on goal and van Gansewinkel fourth with seven.

Van Gansewinkel leads the team with two goals, which is just one shy of four conference players with three apiece, and Rosen and teammates Alessandro Scialanga, Davian Gumbs and James Carr each have an assist to also trail the six GLIAC leaders by just one.

Northern redshirt junior goalkeeper Asaf Kristal, a transfer this season from Illinois-Chicago, has gotten off to a great start for the Wildcats, ranking in all four league statistics — tied for first with 450 minutes played, second with two shutouts, fourth in saves percentage at .737 and fourth in saves per game with 2.80.

Scialanga is the only non-goalkeeper to play every minute — all 450 — this season, while Owen Rutledge isn’t far behind at 443 as Carr has 439 and Quint van Roij 437.

Today’s opponent, Purdue Northwest, has found its scoring touch with at least two goals in each of its last three games after scoring a total of two goals in the Pride’s opening three contests.

Hugo Lorenzo and Landon Potts lead PNW scorers, each with two goals and an assist for five points. Lorenzo is tied with NMU’s van Gansewinkel and Rosen for the GLIAC lead with 16 shots, also matching Rosen in shots on goal with nine.

While the Pride’s nine goals are No. 2 in the league, its 15 given up is worst, including allowing three goals four times.

Purdue NW is 5-1-1 against NMU in their most recent meetings, with Northern’s last win in Hammond coming in October 2021.

Roosevelt is an up-and-coming squad, reaching the conference title game in its first year as an NCAA Division II program a year ago. The Lakers were picked second in the GLIAC Coaches Preseason Poll for this season.

Each of Roosevelt’s half-dozen games has been a tie or decided by a single goal, including a 1-1 home tie vs. national No. 23 Lewis on Sept. 17.

The Lakers’ Fynn Mewes leads the GLIAC with three goals, two game-winning goals, seven points but also four yellow cards.

Noah Vasilev is one of four conference players, along with Purdue NW’s Damian Martinez, with two assists. Vasilev and teammate Landon Potts each have two goals.

Roosevelt goalkeeper Eric Carvajal leads the GLIAC with 31 saves and an .816 saves percentage while ranking second with 5.17 saves per game and fourth with seven goals against.

The Lakers have had an issue with fouls committed in the box, though, conceding five penalty kicks.

In Northern’s two meetings with Roosevelt last season, the Lakers won each, 1-0 in Marquette and 3-1 in Chicago.

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