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James Carr
Senior James Carr

Men's Soccer Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

PREVIEW: GLIAC Championship and NCAA aspirations on the line for men's soccer

Should the Wildcats defeat the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on senior day, the Wildcats will be crowned regular season champions for the first time in program history

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- In a critical final weekend of the regular season, the NMU men's soccer team can play for a GLIAC Regular Season Championship.

The Wildcats (9-4-2, 6-2-2 GLIAC, 2nd - 20 pts) open 'senior weekend' with a clash against Davenport (3-8-5, 2-6-3 GLIAC, 6th - 9 pts) on Friday, October 23, at 12 p.m. ET. The 'Cats will then celebrate its five seniors prior to the 12 p.m. ET kickoff against Saginaw Valley (8-1-6, 6-1-4 GLIAC, 1st - 22 pts) on Sunday, October 25.

Both games are free to attend; fans can follow along with live stats at nmuwildcats.com and stay up to date with continued coverage through nmuwildcats.com and the official NMU men's soccer social media channels. 

Before NMU can think about playing for the GLIAC Regular Season Championship, all focus turns to Friday's match against Davenport. The Panthers are fighting to stay alive for the postseason, as they drew 2-2 to Saginaw Valley midweek on Wednesday.

Aside from Davenport scraping to stay alive in the conference, as they currently sit one point ahead of St. Cloud State for the final playoff spot, a poor result for the 'Cats could spell disaster for NCAA Tournament bids.

"I think the players know and I think leadership knows that this is more of an NCAA play-in game based on the NPI," added head coach Alex Fatovic during his weekly media availability. Entering the weekend, in the NPI standings, the Wildcats are #3 in the region and pushing to claim one of the top-two spots to host a regional round. The Panthers are currently 31st in the region. "[A loss] would be detrimental to our NPI record for an NCAA tournament at-large berth if we lose the game. So really for us it's a massive game."

Head coach Fatovic made these remarks on Tuesday, prior to the Wednesday result. But, regardless of the poor Saginaw draw to Davenport (who is #1 in the region based on NPI standings), Fatovic knows his team has to focus on the moment, starting with Friday.

"We're not talking about championships [right now]. If that comes about, that's awesome, but we're trying to get to the NCAA tournament, and so we know that [the game against Davenport on Friday] has to be a win, and we've got to take care of business. So the focus is going to be sticking to the same routine and same messaging of one moment at a time and enjoy the moment... We're going to look at tape and get better at the things we got to get better at, and we're not going to take our foot off the gas."

Should the 'Cats at least get a win against Davenport on Friday, the team will at least clinch the second seed for the GLIAC Tournament, earning a first-round bye to earn time to rest and recover.

"That gives us a week to rest and recover. Some guys got some knocks, so it's all about the same thing we've been doing since [the beginning of August]... So, we don't earn Sunday until we get through Friday.

The Wildcats will then turn its attention to the Cardinals, who entered the weekend as the #1 seed in the GLIAC and the #1 seed in the region for NPI ranking.

Thanks to the Davenport draw against the Cardinals on Wednesday, regardless of the Wildcat result against Davenport on Friday, a win against Saginaw on Sunday will secure the 'Cats its first GLIAC regular season title in program history.

Conversely, a win over Davenport on Friday and a draw or win against Saginaw on Sunday will also secure the regular season for NMU.

The Wildcats are honoring five seniors prior to kickoff on Sunday, and head coach Fatovic says getting a result for them on Sunday would be the cherry on top to a near-perfect season for his group.

"What a group of guys," said head coach Fatovic when asked about his five seniors: Robert Wright, James Carr, Davian Gumbs, Asaf Kristal, and Luca Rosen. "What a group of guys. Besides the quality of athletes and players they are, and the dedication to the program, [they're] just great humans as well.

"When you have a group of seniors like this, and as they mature and get better both on the field and also in character development off the field, the better they become as humans and young men and growing into adults, [and] they become better players as well. It's really great to see that.

"I'm proud of them, I'm really excited for them to get this moment this week. They know they're playing for big things in their final regular season week of the year, and that's awesome. They've earned that. Whatever they do from this point on, you know, it's we could win this week, we could lose this week, it really doesn't matter. They've proven themselves."




 
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Players Mentioned

James Carr

#2 James Carr

D
5' 8"
Senior
Davian Gumbs

#15 Davian Gumbs

D
5' 8"
Senior
Asaf Kristal

#1 Asaf Kristal

GK
5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
Luca Rosen

#10 Luca Rosen

F
5' 7"
Senior
Robert Wright

#32 Robert Wright

GK
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

James Carr

#2 James Carr

5' 8"
Senior
D
Davian Gumbs

#15 Davian Gumbs

5' 8"
Senior
D
Asaf Kristal

#1 Asaf Kristal

5' 11"
Redshirt Senior
GK
Luca Rosen

#10 Luca Rosen

5' 7"
Senior
F
Robert Wright

#32 Robert Wright

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
GK