Wildcats need eight rounds of penalty kicks to edge PNW
MARQUETTE, Mich. – In the snow and harsh Upper Peninsula weather, the Northern Michigan University men’s soccer team did it, advancing to the GLIAC Semifinals after a dramatic 6-5 win in the penalty kick session after ending regulation and the overtime frame in a 2-2 draw.
“This was the moment we have been practicing for for a year,” added head coach Alex Fatovic in his post-match press conference. “In our practice sessions in the [Superior Dome] during the wintertime, we’re not calling fouls at practice, being physically harder on ourselves, going through all the pitfalls of last season, [and when we got to penalty kicks], we just reminded them that they’ve been here before and that you’re prepared for this moment… Overtime cramping, injuries, it didn’t matter. Our guys rose to the challenge.”
The day started at about 7 a.m. with goalkeeper coach Bryce Beckley and his father beginning to shovel the three inches of wet, heavy snow that covered the pitch. By 10 a.m. and up until around an hour before the 1:30 p.m. kick-off, about 100 community members, along with fellow NMU coaches, staff, and athletes, came together to help clear the field, a full team effort to get this game played. While the snow stayed away during the game, the teams played in temperatures near 30 degrees with winds whipping into the teens.
“This was a full community win today. We had people out here for five-plus hours clearing the field this morning so our guys could play and have this opportunity. I’m so grateful for everyone who showed up today and helped make this an amazing day for NMU Athletics as well as our program.”
Despite the chilly temperatures and feet of snow on the sidelines, hundreds of fans filled the stands, with students taking advantage of a new student section, with a majority of the onlookers blowing vuvuzelas and banging on drums.
The first half featured four goals in the opening 25 minutes, starting in the eighth and 12th minutes from Teun Van Gansewinkel and Quint Van Roij, both coming from primary assists off the boot of Alessandro Scialanga. The Wildcats were in control.
But the Pride had other ideas, as goals from Landon Potts and Carson Byblow in the 18th and 24th minutes notched the game level, and within a matter of minutes, the game was flipped on its head. No one knew it at the time, but no more goals would be scored in the full 110 minutes of play.
“We dropped the ball. We let two goals in, but we responded really well. We had chances right away and had opportunities to go back in goal, so I was really pleased with the resilience.”
After the final 45 minutes of regulation and hotly contested 20 minutes of overtime, the game remained in its 2-2 deadlock, and would officially count as a tie before heading into the penalty kick session.
“We got the wind in the first overtime session, and we said ‘hey, lets go win the game’, and when we didn’t get it, that turned into ‘look, we want to win, but we also don’t want to lose it, so lets get ourselves a chance at the shootout’… We were getting moments and getting chances, our guys never stopped trying to get that winning goal, but we also didn’t give anything away. We were super clean in the second half of overtime, and that gave us a chance in the shootout.”
NMU has now been in two PK situations since the program’s inception in 2016, with the first time also coming the last time the ‘Cats hosted a playoff game, where the team drew 1-1 to Davenport before falling in the PK portion.
Jan Hoffmann was selected to shoot first, and he gave NMU a 1-0 lead. The Pride and Wildcats would both miss their next two attempts, and it was Hugo Lorenzo who notched the shootout level in the bottom of the third. Alessandro Scialanga and Luca Rosen scored in the 4th and 5th, but were matched, and the shootout went into the extra session.
Jadon Thang scored in the sixth, but was matched, followed by Van Roij scoring in the seventh, but was matched once again. Ian Weimer stepped up and scored at the top of the eighth, and with the game on the line, Byblow, who scored the tying goal back in the 24th minute, sent his shot high, and the game was over.
“Full credit to Purdue; they battled and pushed us all the way, but our guys showed amazing resilience, fight, and spirit, and to go into the eighth round of a shootout, that takes incredible poise. Just an amazing game from our guys, and I believe they can do anything now.”
The Wildcats now travel to the campus of host school, #1 Saginaw Valley State, where the ‘Cats will play a neutral-site game against #2 Roosevelt. After splits with both the Lakers and Cardinals earlier in the season, head coach Fatovic said his team “is not done yet” ahead of the trip downstate.
“Who’s going to bet against us in the final four? Not us. We’re going to be up for it, [Roosevelt] is going to be up for it, it’s a neutral site game, and we’re excited.”
NMU kicks off from the Robbert C. Braddock Field in University Center, Michigan, against the #2 Lakers on Friday, September 14, at 2 p.m.
How It Happened
The Wildcats opened the scoring eight and a half minutes into the match, jumping out of the gates early. Van Roij settled a PNW clearance attempt and played it first time to Scialanga, who fired a left-footed cross perfectly to Van Gansewinkel on the back post. Van Gansewinkel hit it the first time, beating the Pride keeper back to the far side, and the NMU Soccer Field was sent into a frenzy.
Just four minutes later, the Wildcats earned a corner kick after a good run from Carr. Scialanga stepped over the ball in front of the NMU student section and sent the ball perfectly to the close post, finding Van Roij for a header and doubling the Wildcat lead.
The high-scoring affair continued, this time from the Pride. Rodriguez de la Garza drove to the far side box before playing a cross into Potts, whose header just beat the outstretched hand of Kristal, and the game saw its third goal in 19 minutes.
The Pride equalized off a worldie of a strike just five minutes later, and the game saw its fourth goal in 25 minutes. Hassan shielded himself from a Wildcat defender before turning and dropping a pass to Byblow. Byblow walked just into the box and took a strike that beat Kristal into the upper corner, a perfectly placed shot.
Rosen had a chance to get the Wildcats back on top as the dangerous striker found his way behind the PNW back line and was one-on-one with the keeper, who came off his line and took away the angle before making a crucial save.
On a counter, Rosen slid a pass to Van Gansewinkel, who snuck his way behind the defense before clinically finishing for his second of the game, or so he thought. Van Gansewinkel scored, and the team began to celebrate, but then the far-side line judge raised his flag, signaling an offside. VAR was unavailable due to league postseason rules. Minutes later, Van Gansewinkel had a header from in tight that narrowly missed the close post.
PK Shootout
- Rd 1, NMU 1-0 PNW – Hoffman goal, Havice miss
- Rd 2, NMU 1-0 PNW – Kowalczyk miss, Ussi miss
- Rd 3, NMU 1-1 PNW – Van Gansewinkel miss, Lorenzo goal
- Rd 4, NMU 2-2 PNW – Scialanga goal, Marangon goal
- Rd 5, NMU 3-3 PNW – Rosen goal, Ivetic goal
- Rd 6, NMU 4-4 PNW – Thang goal, Rodriguez de la Garza goal
- Rd 7, NMU 5-5 PNW – Van Roij goal, Zantout goal
- Rd 8, NMU 6-5 PNW – Weimer goal, Byblow miss
