Northern Michigan University’s Alessandro Scialanga, third from right, and the Wildcats’ Ian Weimer, second from right, watch along with several Cedarville players for a ball to possibly come in front of the Cedarville goal during an NCAA Division II super-regional game played in Claremore, Okla., on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Bill Powell Photography via NMU)

CLAREMORE, Okla. — The dream still came through, but it didn’t go beyond playing one game in the NCAA Division II national tournament for the men’s soccer team at Northern Michigan University.

The Wildcats were knocked out in the opening round of their super-regional in Oklahoma on Thursday afternoon, 1-0, after an NMU goal in the first half was disallowed.

“I couldn’t be more proud of my guys,” Northern head coach Alex Fatovic said in a post-match press conference as relayed by NMU Sports Information in a news release about the game. “They fought hard all season, and then specifically today when it seems like everything was against us; the travel, playing Sunday then getting down here to play on Thursday when the opposition has had a week’s rest, we lost (Quint van Roij) with an injury in the first half and had someone else pick up food poisoning in the midfield.

“Every single thing went against our guys, and it took everything from the opposition to beat them, so it just shows the class and character that our team has.”

Seniors Alessandro Scialanga and Jan Hoffmann joined Fatovic at the postgame press conference, two leaders their coach said “help put the (NMU men’s soccer) program into a position to compete nationally.”

Scialanga said Northern’s biggest strength this season has been playing as a full unit.

“As a whole, our (team’s) biggest strength is we have different players who can step up in different moments,” he said. “We’re not just a one-man team, it’s a full team effort, and every guy can come in and put in a performance…. We represent the definition of a team sport.”

Hoffmann was asked about his biggest memory of his final season in Marquette.

“It was the first time in program history that we made the national tournament and we won the GLIAC championship game, so that’s probably what I am going to take out of it,” he said. “But it still hurts right now … losing in the first round of the national tournament in your senior year wasn’t the way I expected today to go, but that’s the way soccer goes sometimes.”

Hoffmann also said he will take away lasting relationships.

“This group of guys, the connections I’ve made, are friends and family, and that’s something that I can take with me for the rest of my life,” he added.

Finishing the season with a 9-5-6 record, NMU came into the 40-team tournament and 10-team super-regional as the No. 10, or lowest, seed and the only team from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference after the Wildcats won their conference tourney just four days earlier.

Cedarville was the No. 7 seed and No. 17 in the nation and advances with a 12-1-7 record to play the host of their half of the super-region, No. 2 seed Rogers State (12-3-5), this afternoon.

This first-ever appearance in the nationals almost turned into a Cinderella story when the Wildcats thought they had scored in the waning minutes of the first half.

After all the early shots by both teams missed the mark, even with several corner kicks included, Northern’s Luca Rosen fired a shot toward the top of the net that was deflected just enough to go high in the 37th minute.

On the ensuing corner kick, NMU’s Ian Weimer knocked the ball in the net after it was misplayed by Yellow Jackets netminder Eben Dewhurst, but a foul was called on the Wildcats before the ball got to the goalie, rendering the play dead.

After that, Cedarville then had its most dangerous possessions up to that point, including NMU netminder Asaf Kristal making a diving stop 10 seconds before halftime to preserve the scoreless tie.

He was called on early in the second half to whack away a line drive shot, while Rosen’s shot on the counterattack narrowly missed high.

NMU fended off five corner kicks by the Yellow Jackets in five minutes, with other opportunities coming, too.

Then with exactly four minutes remaining in regulation, Cedarville’s Michael Catanzarite lobbed the ball toward the net as a diving Christian Nardelli fired in a header to the right side of the net that proved to be the only score all day.

“To the rest of the soccer world, I think it is a Cinderella story, but for us it’s not. We knew what we’re capable of, and what these guys did in the offseason to get better and learn from the mistakes from last season to put them in a position to win the title this year was phenomenal.

“This group found a way. Their back was against the wall a couple of weeks ago, and since then they’ve looked inward and found a way to play at the level they’re capable of.

“I thought our team played fantastic, and when you’re in the NCAA tournament, every team is good. Congratulations to Cedarville.”

Despite the loss, Kristal had another strong performance with seven saves.

“Asaf has been tremendous,” his coach said. “What everybody sees in the stats are incredible; but for us, what we see as a team is his value in leadership, having a positive attitude and his energy.

“It was kind of one of the big pieces we were missing last year, and he’s been amazing on and off the field.”

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