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Wildcat Warmup
The Wildcats warm up at practice on Thursday morning's training session

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

PREVIEW: Wildcats gear up for GLIAC Tournament play this weekend

The #2 Wildcats face the #3 Lions on Friday, November 6, on the Campus of Saginaw Valley State

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- The #25 NMU men's soccer team is gearing up for the 2026 GLIAC Tournament this weekend.

The nationally ranked Wildcats (10-5-2, 7-3-2 GLIAC, 2nd - 23 pts) earned a bye and the #2 seed for the tournament after finishing second in the conference, the highest regular-season finish in program history. 

The Wildcats will face the Purdue Northwest Lions (10-5-2, 6-5-1 GLIAC, 3rd - 19 pts) in the GLIAC semifinal match from the campus of Saginaw Valley State. The Lions defeated the #6 seed, the Davenport Panthers, in a GLIAC Quarterfinal match on October 31 to advance to the final four of the conference.

The Wildcats and Lions will meet at 2 p.m. ET on Friday, November 6, at the Robert C. Braddock Field in University Center, Michigan, on the campus of Saginaw Valley. Fans can live-stream the action on FloCollege and find continued coverage at both nmuwildcats.com and the official NMU men's soccer social media channels.

When asked about receiving a bye in the first round ahead of the GLIAC Tournament, head coach Alex Fatovic says not much has changed for his side's preparation for the weekend.

"This is the first time that we've had a bye… so,I think we're just going to keep things the same. You know, not much has changed… I think it's just making sure that we remind the guys what's got us here, right? And that's just hard work and focus and making sure that we understand the game plan and doing all the little things in our preparation that's got us to this point. So, we're not going to shy away from that."

The 'Cats arrived in Bay City, Michigan, late Wednesday night, and at the time of writing are practicing at the facilities of SVSU in the cold and rain, foreshadowing the conditions for tomorrow's quarterfinal match. 

The two sides are familiar with adverse conditions when competing against each other in the postseason: the Wildcats last met Purdue in the postseason of the GLIAC quarterfinals in Marquette a season ago, downing PNW in penalty kicks during the infamous snow game, when the community showed up in droves to clear the field of heavy snowfall that came overnight. What followed was the most iconic match in NMU men's soccer history.

Should the Wildcats win on Friday, the team will advance to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match for the second consecutive season and will face the winner of either host Saginaw Valley or #5 seed Roosevelt Lakers. The GLIAC Championship match will take place on Sunday, November 8, at 1 p.m. ET.

This is also a massive weekend for the NCAA Tournament and determining seeding for the big dance. The Wildcats enter the weekend ranked #4 in NPI in Super Region 3, which consists of the GLIAC, GLVC, GMAC, and GAC. Each conference gets an auto-bid with the postseason tournament winner, and there are six at-large spots available to fill out the region bracket.

Should the Wildcats maintain its #4 spot in the region, the Green and Gold will get a first-round bye and host a second-round NCAA Tournament match in Marquette. Should the Wildcats fall below fourth, the 'Cats will be on the road. Results this weekend will be crucial for securing a home NCAA Tournament match.

In terms of NPI, the Cardinals are second in the region, the Lions are seventh, and the Lakers are 12th. Should the Wildcats want a home match, and the Lions and Lakers want its season to continue after this weekend, the sides will need results, making every tournament match this weekend a must-watch affair.



 
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