After that, though, NMU will be on the road for a tournament out west and its first pair of conference matches before returning home more than halfway through September.

Overall, the Wildcats will play a dozen matches at home in a what is expected to be a 26- or 27-match regular-season schedule.

Northern has 16 matches in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference — the unbalanced schedule has the Wildcats facing six teams twice and the other four just once.

The remainder of the slate is a trio of tournaments, including the season-opening U.P. Open scheduled for NMU’s home Vandament Arena from Thursday through Saturday, Aug. 27-29.

Northern Michigan University’s Kaylie McIntosh, center, returns a ball with Wildcats’ head coach Mike Lozier seated watching on the bench, far right, during a GLIAC Tournament quarterfinal match played against Wisconsin-Parkside at Vandament Arena in Marquette on Nov. 19. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

Northern is coming off a 15-14 season that started 1-9 when the Wildcats took on multiple nationally-ranked teams at two tourneys to begin the season. They bounced back to go 12-4 in the GLIAC, good for a tie for third place, before falling in their opening match to Wisconsin-Parkside in the conference tournament quarterfinals.

Head coach Mike Lozier will guide NMU for the 10th season as he has a career record in Marquette of 147-102 (.590 winning percentage), including 92-54 (.630) in the GLIAC.

The U.P. Open will be an all-Midwest affair, at least for the Wildcats. They face a pair of Minnesota teams on opening day, Aug. 27, taking on Winona State at 2:30 p.m. and St. Cloud State at 6:30 p.m. Another Minnesota team is on the docket for the middle day, Aug. 28, against Minnesota-Duluth at 7 p.m.

It wraps up against a former GLIAC member from Ohio, Tiffin, at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 29.

The opposition and venue change drastically the following week, when NMU flies out to the Cal State East Bay Tournament in Hayward, California, from Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 3-5.

Northern plays the host Pioneers first at 5 p.m. EDT on Sept. 3. A day later will feature two matches, vs. Colorado School of Mines at 1 p.m. EDT and Westmont College of Santa Barbara, California, at 8:30 p.m. EDT. The final day will be a match vs. San Francisco State at 4 p.m. EDT.

With GLIAC match times not established yet, the weekend after Labor Day is when the Wildcats open GLIAC play near the southern end of Lake Michigan, taking on Purdue Northwest in Hammond, Indiana, on Sept. 11 and Roosevelt in Chicago on Sept. 12.

Then comes the first of two back-to-back home weeks for the Wildcats in the GLIAC. They host Davenport on Friday, Sept. 18, Saginaw Valley State on Saturday, Sept. 19, and top U.P.

There’s a single road match the next weekend, in Allendale at Grand Valley State on Sept. 26, before a quick return home to host Parkside on Friday, Oct. 2.

Northern is back on the road for another three consecutive league matches, vs. Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie on Oct. 3, vs. Davenport in Grand Rapids on Oct. 9, and vs. Wayne State in Detroit on Oct. 10.

The Wildcats then take a break from the GLIAC for one weekend, traveling to the Midwest Crossover at Purdue NW’s home court in Hammond, Indiana, on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17. Opponents, times and even the number of matches to be played there have yet to be announced.

NMU then returns for the sprint to the GLIAC finish line, four of the final six matches at home.

Northern hosts Ferris State on Friday, Oct. 23, Purdue NW on Saturday, Oct. 24, GVSU on Friday, Oct. 30, and Wayne State on Saturday, Oct. 31, the last match likely to be Senior Day as the team’s final regular-season date at home.

The season wraps up at Houghton to take on Michigan Tech on Tuesday, Nov. 3, and at Kenosha, Wisconsin, to take on Parkside on Friday, Nov. 6.

If past scheduling continues to hold true, the following Wednesday, Nov. 11, would be the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals with the top four seeds hosting seeds Nos. 5-8 in the 11-team league.

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