MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Wildcats of Northern Michigan University men's soccer team (4-3) rallied from being down one to force overtime before ultimately falling 2-1 to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday afternoon in the final Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) regular-season match of the season for both teams.

CHARGING BACK

The Rangers scored in the 15th minute to take a 1-0 lead which they held for 17 minutes.

Falling behind did not deter the Wildcats who came fighting back later in the half. Emanuele Ancione scored a goal for NMU to tie the match at 1-1. Ryan Palmbaum had the assist for the Wildcats.

HARD-FOUGHT MATCH

The second half was scoreless for both teams with each getting five shots in the half.

Niko Scheibal came up big for NMU on defense as he was able to block several shots and opportunities while also winning several balls in the air for the Wildcats.

The defense as a whole for NMU also clamped down in the second half and allowed half as many shot opportunities as came in the first.

In the end, Parkside was able to score the golden goal and earn the 2-1 victory.

STAT LEADERS

The Wildcats and the Rangers tallied the same number of saves (4) in the match.

NMU had the advantage in possession of the ball during the contest. The Wildcats were able to control possession for 53-percent of the time on the pitch.

Palmbaum and Ancione led NMU with three shots each. Palmbaum took the advantage of shots on goal with two to Ancione's one. 

Kaffie Kurz tallied two shots for the Wildcats while Kalvin Glodz, Keegan Schmidt, Alex Scott, and Shawn Clarke had one shot each.

The shots for Scott and Clarke were on target. 

Goalkeeper Alex Weaver notched four saves for NMU in the contest, including a leaping save that eventually forced overtime. He has played every minute in the net for the Wildcats this season.

QUOTABLE

"It was a tight match as expected," said head coach David Poggi. "There were lots of opportunities throughout for both teams to score. I am proud of us coming back from being behind and tying it."

"Any sudden death overtime is not really indicative of the match itself. They put away their final chance and earned the win just like we would have if it went our way" added Poggi. 

"This was our first overtime match of the season. We have a lot of young players who wanted to keep going even after the golden goal was scored," the coach continued. "I like that because it is another step in the maturity of this team and shows how much further this team can grow and learn."

"The guys are naturally going to be down after a loss like this, but they have been in good spirits the last few weeks. We are now going into the playoffs and are shifting our focus on that stretch of the season," concluded Poggi.

UP NEXT

The GLIAC will announce the seedings and match locations for the GLIAC Tournament after the conference teams conclude the regular season over the rest of the weekend.

Quarterfinal action will begin Sunday, April 25th at the home fields of the top four seeds.