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Northern Men's Soccer Team Drops Tight 1-0 Match
 Story, photo courtesy of NMU Sports Information MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Wildcats and the Rangers took to the pitch for a Sunday afternoon matchup with impactful GLIAC implications on the line. The Rangers (7-2-1, 4-1-1) managed to get on the board in the first half and anchored down their defense to shutout Northern (3-5-2, 2-3-1) for a 1-0 win. Edgar Heredia Victoria netted his second of the season for the lone goal. The Rangers commanded much of the opportunities throughout the game, but the Wildcats had their fair share of looks that they could not capitalize on. "Another week and another familiar story to our match," Coach Fatovic said after the loss. "One poor moment on a set piece undoes us after another wonderful performance against one of the best in the GLIAC. The boys worked incredibly hard and had chances, but few and far between. We didn't threaten Parkside's goal nearly enough with all our possession and we spurred too many of their chances with poor giveaways." "Unfortunately, that's not a formula to beat top-level opponents like Parkside. However, with everything going on and under the circumstances, I couldn't be more proud of our team, players, and staff for how well they support each other. So even though we lost the game, we won the day in my opinion. I would not bet against this team down the stretch." The Rangers had daylight on goal with an open box in the 9th minute, but a right-footed snipe found the crossbar to keep it scoreless early. Tommaso Lami had a similar look coming back the other way for NMU, but the shot bounced left. Parkside continued to apply pressure over the next twenty minutes and eventually broke through on a corner kick. Edgar Heredia headed in the ball bottom left for a 1-0 UWP lead in the 26th minute. The visitors continued to possess the majority of the opportunities to close the half. They outshot NMU 10-3 and landed six corners to zero for the Green and Gold. The first ten minutes of the second half consisted of a lot of play in the midfield, as neither team could string together much of a run into their opponent's defensive zone. Parkside was inches away from a two-goal lead with 12 minutes to go, but they rattled the crossbar for the second time in the contest to keep it 1-0. A red card given to the Rangers with five minutes to go gave NMU a man-up advantage, but the 'Cats were unable to close out the opportunity. Parkside hung on for the 1-0 victory. The Rangers nearly tripled up NMU in shots, 17-6. They landed five on target while holding the Wildcats without a shot on goal. The visiting squad also dominated corner kicks with a 9-2 edge. Tommaso Lami and Jan Hoffmann each got away two shots. Alex Weaver stopped four shots in the net. |
