The men’s soccer team at Northern Michigan University accomplished a noteworthy feat by knocking off national No. 17 Saginaw Valley State on Friday, and after the Wildcats’ unbeaten weekend was over, they had not one, but two of their junior players earn player of the week awards from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Forward Luca Rosen of London, England, won the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring both of NMU’s goals — in the 1-0 victory over SVSU and in a 1-1 deadlock with Davenport.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, redshirt junior and first-year transfer Asaf Kristal blocked the Cardinals from scoring in Friday’s upset.

He made a season-high dozen saves without letting in goal on Friday, then stopped 10 more shots to preserve his team’s tie on Sunday.

Northern Michigan University goalkeeper Asaf Kristal makes a save during a GLIAC men’s soccer game played against Saginaw Valley State at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Kristal, from Tel Aviv, Israel, leads the conference, both in GLIAC games and all contests, in most netminding categories. He’s tops in league games with his five goals against, an .833 goals-against average, .868 saves pecentage and three shutouts. He’s second in league games with 5.5 saves per game, and in all those categories for overall games, he ranks No. 1.

“Very happy for both Asaf and Luca,” Northern head coach Alex Fatovic said in an NMU Sports Information news release announcing the awards. “They are top players and have fit right in with this program. 

“Asaf was huge in both games again, coming up with timely saves and leadership, while Luca was dangerous every single time he touched the ball. He netted two, but could have had five, while working hard for everything.

“It’s great to be recognized, but it will mean nothing if we don’t follow this up with another huge weekend of conference play on the road. Well done, lads!” 

They helped the Wildcats improve to 4-2-4 overall and 3-2-1 in the GLIAC, one game behind conference coleaders Roosevelt and Wisconsin-Parkside, each of whom are 4-1-1.

Both NMU players earned their first GLIAC weekly award.

Rosen extended his goal-scoring streak to three games and now has five goals and three game winners in the team’s six GLIAC games, each leading the league. He also leads the conference both overall and in conference games for shots and shots on goal.

The Northern men have had one other GLIAC player of the week this season, Owen Rutledge as GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week four weeks ago.

On deck for these Wildcats are three road games in a row over the next eight days. NMU travel to Grand Rapids to face Davenport at 2 p.m. Friday, then heads east to University Center between Saginaw and Bay City to get their second encounter at Saginaw Valley State at 11 a.m. Sunday.

And at 1 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 22, Northern travels to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to take on league coleader Wisconsin-Parkside.

Here are details from last weekend’s games:

NMU 1, SVSU 0

On Friday afternoon, this not only marked the Cardinals’ first loss of the season, but the first time ever Northern has beaten SVSU in Marquette and only the second time NMU recorded a win anywhere over Saginaw Valley.

“It doesn’t get any better than that,” Fatovic said in an NMU SI news release about the game. “We’ve been getting better each year, and that’s the win we’ve been looking for.

“It’s a big win against a big team at home, using (our familiar field and playing conditions) to our advantage, and we became a force.”

SVSU is coming off its GLIAC championship a year ago, when it also reached the NCAA Divsion II Elite Eight.

Rosen scored the game’s lone goal with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half, fortuitous as the Wildcats had to play shorthanded for about the final 35 minutes after NMU’s Tyler Kowalczyk was shown a red card. The call was originally a yellow card, meaning a caution with no player removed, but was upgraded after a look at video review that left Northern with 10 players to the Cardinals’ 11.

“In training we’ve worked on a lot of shooting, which has really helped me,” Rosen said. “I was on a bit of a goal drought to start the season, but since the GLIAC started, it’s switched on. Everything’s falling for me (right now), and it’s been perfect.” 

“As soon as he got it on his left foot, I knew it was a goal,” Fatovic said. “He’s been getting better at training each week, and he’s our goal scorer.

“We just have to keep feeding him those opportunities because we know he can finish.” 

While the game’s offense was fairly even before the red card, it tilted wildly in SVSU’s favor after that, with the Cardinals outshooting Northern 19-2 in those final 35 minutes while finishing with an overall edge of 31-10.

Shots on goal weren’t quite so lopsided, the Cards had a 12-7 advantage there.

“We knew we were going to be under (pressure) for the next 35 minutes, and man did they play strong,” Fatovic said. “So proud of the team. We changed our formation and changed our personnel, and we didn’t skip a beat, and that just shows how hard-working this team is.”

Kristal took the brunt of Saginaw Valley’s pressure in net.

“(He was) unbelievable, again,” Fatovic said. “If your No. 10 and your No. 1 can have good games and be productive in both ends of the field in the goal box, then you’re going to win a game.

“Two massive saves in the the last couple of minutes to keep us under.

“At some point, you are going to give up crosses, and for him to come up big like that was huge…. Another shutout, another win, couldn’t be more proud of his efforts today.”

NMU SI related that the first half hour of the game was rather tame, but the final 15 minutes of the first half turned up the excitement meter.

In the second half, originally SVSU hit the post as a cross caught a strong wind gust but also helped keep it out of the Northern net.

Within the next minute, the Wildcats made a counterattack when the Cards played the ball back to their keeper to set up the game’s lone score.

NMU’s Ian Weimer intercepted the errant pass and got off a shot. While that shot didn’t go in, the rebound went to Rosen with a wide-open net in front of him, and he converted.

In the first minute after play resumed, Northern got another attacking opportunity, this time Davian Gumbs with Weimer. Gumbs played a pass to Weimer, who was one-on-one with the keeper, but couldn’t get it under control before his shot was cut off by the angle at the net.

Saginaw stopped another great NMU opportunity early in the second half when a defender on the goal line blocked a wide-open shot.

Kristal made a pair of impressive saves in the final five minutes to preserve the victory.

NMU 1, Davenport 1

On Sunday, after Friday’s huge win, it might’ve been a disappointment to only get a tie against the GLIAC basement dwellers.

But Northern only had the lead for less than three minutes before DU forged a tie, shorthanded itself after the Panthers were called for a red card.

Still scoreless through the midpoint of the second half, NMU got another goal from Rosen, this time after the red card was called on Davenport’s Maxamillian Postlewait. Northern was also awarded a free kick on the foul and Rosen converted.

Before that, Rosen had the game’s first chance to score, taking another free kick from about five yards outside the penalty area that curled just wide.

DU had its own free kick from just about the same spot as Rosen’s, just at the other end of the field. Charlie Davis’ shot was blocked by the Wildcats’ defensive wall.

Then Northern started ramping up the offense in the middle of the second half. Gumbs’ pass went untouched through the box before exiting out the other side as that dangerous opportunity went by the wayside.

Just a few minutes later, a pass blocked by NMU’s Andrea Mercanti earned he and Rosen a 2-on-1 chance on offense. Mercanti passed to Rosen in the clear before the dangerous goal scorer was pulled down from behind. It not only took Postlewait out of the game and left DU with 10 men against Northern’s 11, but gave Rosen the free kick from two yards outside the box.

Rosen confidently struck the ball, curling a shot to the bottom right of the net and in.

Despite the confidence built by the score, NMU couldn’t take advantage as it was playing into the wind. Instead, the Panthers turned around and played a free kick just inside the Wildcat half less than three minutes later. The rebound popped right to DU’s Ryan Sheffer for an on-target header and into the upper left corner of the net.

While Northern got a number of chances to score after that, they couldn’t connect.

For the day, Davenport held a 23-20 advantage in total shots and an even bigger 11-3 edge in shots on goal.

But Kristal’s superb goalkeeping evened it out.

Fouls were even 14-14 as DU was shown the only two yellow cards and one red card. The Panthers also had a 9-7 edge in corner kicks.

“We got the goal, we were up a man, and at that point I thought ‘Let’s see this out,'” Fatovic said. “(Their goal) came off a silly foul, and we knew all game that the wind was blowing in our face to end the game, and we wanted to limit free kicks. When you give a team service after service after service, things are bound to happen.”

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the men’s soccer team. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.