MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan University men's soccer team played an aggressive and windy match against Saginaw Valley on the 'Cats home turf, resulting in a 1-0 loss for NMU. 

The Cardinals put their first point on the board in the 20th minute of the first half. Dribbling his way into the 18-yard box and taking on two Wildcat defenders, Jonny Monney was able to get past Nils Cedergren as well, placing the ball in the left corner of the net. 

The Wildcats kept the ball in Saginaw's defensive half for most of the game. With nine corners and 12 free kicks taken by Northern in the last 45 minutes, they were unsuccessful with finding the back of the net. 

The Wildcats now move 4-6-2 overall, and look to face the Panthers of Davenport on Sunday, October 18th. 

How It Happened
With quite the pressure put on right from the start, the Wildcats kept the ball in Saginaw's defensive half for the first 45 minutes.

Five free kicks were awarded to the Wildcats within the first 15 minutes, but Northern was unable to put it in the back of the net. 

In the 20th minute, Cardinal Jonny Monney was able to finesse his way through two Wildcat center backs and placed it into the left corner of the goal to put the Cardinals up by one. 

The Cardinals had a few more chances in the first half, but the Wildcats' defense did not let anything else through. 

With the continuation of applied pressure, the 'Cats still were not able to add to the scoreboard, and the first half ended 0-1 with Saginaw on top. 

Starting the second half, the aggressive battle continued as both teams did not let up. 

In the 74th minute, the Wildcats were awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Alessandro Scialanga went up to take the kick, but his shot was deflected by Saginaw's wall. 

Being given many opportunities to score, the 'Cats best opportunity came in the 87th minute, as Tommaso Lami dribbled the ball deep into the 6-yard box, sending a ball across the net and into the feet of Teun Van Gansewinkel, but his shot was blocked. 

The green and gold gave a tremendous amount of effort towards this game, and despite their possession and scoring opportunities, the team lost 0-1. 

Cat Nips

• The Wildcats took nine shots in total, versus the Cardinals who took 14 in total
• The 'Cats held an advantage in corner kicks, having taken nine compared to the Cardinals' three
• Saginaw was penalized 12 times during the match, as Northern gave away 10 fouls
• Scialanga led the Wildcats with three shots in total 
• James Carr, Scialanga, Finn van den Berg, Quint Van Roij, Lami, and Isaac Cervantes played the full 90 minutes of the game
• Cedergren recorded three saves for the evening

Up Next
The Wildcats will face Davenport on for senior day on Sunday, October 20th, at 2 p.m.