Northern Michigan University’s Teun van Gansewinkel, right, goes up against a Roosevelt player during their GLIAC men’s soccer match played in suburban Chicago on Sunday. (Photo courtesy NMU)

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — Physical isn’t always what soccer is known for, but it was when the men’s team from Northern Michigan University took to the pitch in suburban Chicago on Sunday afternoon.

Defending conference champion Roosevelt pulled out a 1-0 victory over the Wildcats as 37 fouls were called and eight yellow cards were issued.

While the fouls were nearly even, the Lakers called for 19 and NMU 18, the yellows went against Northern as they took seven of them, a program record for a single game except for the last game of last season when the team stormed the field before a game was over.

“I’m extremely proud of the guys (Sunday), another amazing performance and hard-fought battle against the reigning GLIAC champions and a ranked regional opponent,” Northern head coach Alex Fatovic said in an NMU Sports Information news release about the game. “We had to adjust with our captain (Alessandro Scialanga) going down 10 minutes in, and then his replacement, Jan Hoffmann, another senior leader, also goes down, and through all that adjusting, our back line didn’t miss a beat.

“The guys are rightly frustrated (with the result), but the passion, fight and spirit (with this group) is something I have never seen with this club. The guys are really fighting for each other, and it’s amazing to be a part of.”

The Wildcats slipped to 2-2-3 overall and 1-2 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Lakers improved to 4-1-3 and 2-0-1.

“At the end of the game we were still pushing to create chances, but we’re walking away with zero (points), so the message is that we have to score on our chances,” Fatovic said. “But at the end of the day, (I’m) extremely proud of the guys, huge efforts across the board all weekend.

“Fortunately we have a week before our next match, and we will rest and recover.”

NMU’s only game in the next week is in Minnesota against GLIAC foe St. Cloud State at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday.

Roosevelt, which is ranked No. 8 in the Midwest Region, scored the game’s only goal in the final minute of the first half, using a bicycle kick by Caco Fernandez after a deep throw-in bounced around the box before getting to the scorer.

With his back to the goal, he connected on the acrobatic move as the ball found the bottom right corner of the net. The play made the ESPN SportsCenter top-10 plays of the day on Monday morning at No. 5.

Northern was dominating much of the first half, according to NMU SI, holding a 4-2 edge in total shots while it was even 2-2 in shots on goal. Overall, Roosevelt finished with a 9-8 total shots advantage and 4-2 in shots on goal.

The Wildcats had a narrow edge in corner kicks, 5-4.

The only shot attempt in the game’s first 25 minutes was by NMU, which forced a turnover deep in Roosevelt’s end as Teun van Ginsewinkel gathered the ball just outside the box and walked in one on one, taking a shot that Lakers netminder Eric Carvajal stopped.

After another Roosevelt turnover, Northern’s Luca Rosen had a great look at the goal about 10 minutes before halftime. His low shot to the far post was also stopped by Carvajal, who had two saves.

Rosen was the only Wildcat player with more than one shot as he took three.

Wildcats goalkeeper Asaf Kristal, who made three saves, got two of those in the first five minutes of the second half while his teammates blocked three others in that short span.

And in the final 90 seconds, NMU’s Quint van Roij had a good look at the goal before offsides was whistled following a Davian Gumbs pass to van Roij.

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.