NMU men’s soccer gets chance vs. highly ranked teams
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Northern Michigan University freshman defender Marcos Gallardo Rozano brings the ball out of his own end of the field during a previous Wildcats game in August. (Photo courtesy NMU)
That's because for possible NCAA tournament positioning, it's important that NMU do well against several regionally and even nationally ranked teams this week.
Northern hosts Lake Erie College of northern Ohio at 3 p.m. today for its home opener, then hits the road to play an unusual nonconference game against Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Saginaw Valley State in University Center at noon Sunday.
Lake Erie, a former GLIAC member for a short time, is ranked No. 9 in the Midwest Region, while the Cardinals are not only No. 1 in the Midwest but ranked No. 6 nationally.
It was the Cardinals and it was in University Center where NMU won 1-0 in the GLIAC tournament championship game last fall that likely propelled the Wildcats into the NCAA Division II tournament for the first time.
Fans can watch both games this week on FloCollege, follow along with live statistics, live video and a preview available at the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and looking under the men's soccer schedule. Fans can also subscribe to the official NMU men's soccer social media accounts for continuing coverage.
In another unusual twist of the schedule, this game at SVSU will be be repeated less than two weeks later on Friday, Sept. 18, as the Wildcats' opening GLIAC game.
Northern split its first two games in the past week on the road, winning 4-1 in Midland against Northwood last Thursday, then falling 2-0 at national No. 25 Tiffin in Ohio on Sunday. Tiffin was also ranked No. 5 in the Midwest before last weekend.
Favotic sees this tough stretch of games as a good early test for the Wildcats.
"With a lot of young players that we have, you have to recognize that when you're in a game with two good teams, the difference is one team takes their chances, and the other team doesn't," Fatovic said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing this week's games. "It doesn't come down to ... style of play or all the things that we've been talking about. It's about who wants to win the game.
"And I think that's what our guys needed to figure out, and now they did, so hopefully that takes us into the next one because it doesn't get any easier (today) with Lake Erie."
Lake Erie was picked to finish fifth in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, with key returners including senior goalkeeper David Ruiz Ospina. Head coach Louie Rolko is in his 10th season for the Storm.
Like Northern, Lake Erie is 1-1 after a 2-0 victory at Gannon, another former GLIAC member that made a run to the NCAA Elite Eight last season, and a 1-0 loss at Indianapolis, which made the second round of the NCAAs.
Just a few years ago, the Storm won the G-MAC tourney title and made a run to the NCAA Final Four.
"Hopefully (we) take the lessons learned from the Tiffin game that you have to be good for the whole 90 minutes," Fatovic said. "There are no breaks in this region for sure…. Lake Erie will be in a different shape than Saginaw, and they’re going to pose a different style of play than Saginaw, so you might see some different things in the two games between our personnel and theirs."
The Wildcats then hit the road for the conference tourney title rematch against a Cardinals picked unanimously in the preseason to again win the regular-season title. Not surprising, considering that over the past decade, SVSU has won the title in the regular season six times and the tourney twice.
Even with the tourney finals loss, the Cards finished at 11-3-4.
"We kind of know what to expect on Sunday," Fatovic said of the Cardinals. "We know how they're going to play; they're good at what they do, and I don't anticipate them changing.... We're looking at two very good games.
"There are two tracks -- one, it does great for our development and learning how to play against high-level competition every week. We need that. And two, it could do a lot for our national tournament bid if we get some results. If we don't, then it doesn't do anything for us except put us in a tough spot to try to win the tournament.
"If we can go out and get two wins this weekend, it'd probably be one of the biggest weekends in our program history."
The first handful of fans to the NMU Soccer Field today will be given vuvuzelas to cheer on the home team, as Fatovic says that support from the local community goes a long way for his squad in helping the team get the crucial results needed.
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.