This story was written by NMU Sports Information. NMU Photos.
MARQUETTE, Mich. - In a blustery Saturday afternoon matchup, the Northern Michigan University Wildcats men's soccer team secured its first win of 2025, downing the Lawrence Tech Blue Devils 2-1 to round out the opening weekend.
The 'Cats took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break thanks to Teun Van Gansewinkel scoring his first tally of the season and second of his career. The Blue Devils struck early in the second frame to equalize, but it was a flying header from Davian Gumbs in the 70th minute that would stand to be the winner, Gumbs' third career goal and first career game-winning goal.
"Good team win today," said head coach Alex Fatovic in his post-match press conference. "We had a great first half, we worked the ball really well, but then a really poor start to the second half got us into trouble. For the guys to dig out this win like we did, it's a great learning experience and a really good sign."
Both goals garnered assists for the 'Cats, with Luca Rosen and Alessandro Scialanga assisting on the opening goal, and James Carr adding his name to the score sheet with the assist on the game winner.
Along with Asaf Kristal, who made three saves in his second-straight appearance to earn his first win in a Wildcat shirt, three 'Cats played the full ninety, including Carr, Scialanga, and Owen Rutledge. Both Quint Van Roij and van Gansewinkel turned in 80+ minute performances, at 87 and 83, respectively.
The 'Cats only allowed nine shot attempts compared to 16 from NMU, while also holding an 8-5 corner advantage. NMU held a slight edge in possession, controlling the ball 52% of the time, but it was what they did with the ball that counted; when the 'Cats had possession, they were in the attacking half 66% compared to the Blue Devils 55%.
The Wildcats were also more disciplined, as the Blue Devils were whistled for four yellow cards and 14 fouls compared to two yellow cards and 10 fouls against NMU.
"Really proud of our full team effort today. We had a lot of [underclassmen] come in and make big impacts [for us], ten minutes at a time, fifteen minutes at a time, and those are really big minutes for us," added Fatovic, who saw four of his seven substitutions from underclassmen, led in minutes by Andrea Mercanti (43) and Tyler Kowalczyk (37). Among the subs were Triston Nelson and Max Rebori, both of them making their first appearance in 2025, and logging 13 and 11 minutes, respectively. "We made the right subs, and everyone who came in and gave us minutes today off the bench was fantastic, and that's a really great sign that we can rely on our guys."
The weather was not on the athletes' side this weekend, with temperatures again in the low 50s and wind gusts reaching the upper teens. The rain held off today, as opposed to Thursday's match, and the sun shone for the entire ninety minutes. With the win, NMU moves to 1-0-1 overall thanks to the pair of home results in the early season. The 'Cats now look ahead to a long road trip, traveling to Illinois and Ohio for clashes against Lewis and Lake Erie.
"We've got the toughest road trip possible this week, and we're going to have to play better to get results on the road, but it's all there for us… undefeated so far, and we're going to try and keep that rolling.
NMU takes its furthest road trip they'll see this year, traveling to Illinois and Ohio for match-ups against Lewis and Lake Erie. The 'Cats play the Flyers on Thursday, September 11, at 2 p.m. ET, and the Storm on Sunday, September 14, at 1 p.m. ET.
