Rosen scores twice in the first eight miutes
MIDLAND, Mich. — The NMU men’s soccer team historically opened 2026, defeating the Northwood Timberwolves 4-1 on the road.
The result is the best score to open a season on the road in program history, and the second-best season-opening result at home or on the road (5-0 win vs Wisconsin-Superior on 8/24/2018).
“Fantastic result. You can’t ask for much more on opening day,” added head coach Alex Fatovic. “Other than conceding the penalty late, it was basically a perfect opening day: no injuries, no red cards, [we] got goals from our big strikers, and good performances from everybody.”
The Wildcats were on the front foot from the opening whistle, as the entire starting eleven made an impact in creating turnovers, keeping possession, and generating chances. Senior captain Luca Rosen scored a pair of goals just four and a half minutes apart in the opening eight minutes, capping off great team play and providing a spark straight away.
“[Luca] is our star, he’s our goal-scorer, and he’s our captain, so to get him on the board with two goals in the first few minutes of the first match of the season, that’s exactly what you want. You want him feeling comfortable and confident, and that will pose some challenges for the opposition because we have other guys who are really good up front.”
A goal from Noah Preston Watkins early in the second half allowed head coach Alex Fatovic to go deep into his reserves, giving a total of 23 student-athletes playing time tonight. Jadon Thang converted from the penalty spot to round out the scoring, and Xhoel Lutaj added an assist to round out the Wildcat point getters.
No student-athlete from the Green and Gold logged a full 90 minutes tonight, but they were led by midfielder Julius Lemm (87) and goalkeeper Asaf Kristal (83), who made four saves from four on target before being replaced by Robert Wright in the final stages of the match. Davian Gumbs (78), James Carr (75), and Marcos Gallardo Rozano (72) all put in great shifts in the defense.
“An overall great team performance and some key individual performances as well: Davian Gumbs really stuck out to me with lots of effort, freshman Marcos at center back played amazing, our central midfielders all played hard, and Noah with his first goal in an NMU shirt.”
Tonight saw a plethora of regular-season Wildcat debuts: graduate student transfer Lemm, redshirt-junior goalkeeper Wright, junior transfer Preston Watkins and Brody Stanton, sophomore transfer Sam Pilgrim, sophomore Vinni DaSilva, freshmen Gallardo Rozano, Sergio Cano Castro, Jonah Wallace, Sam Cooper, Jack Meyer, and Matteo Przysucha.
“We talked about [depth] earlier in the week, and we played every active field player today, which was amazing. We were able to rest guys for Sunday; Marcos was on a yellow, so we got him out, and guys were obviously not fully game-fit being the first game of the season, but we always had somebody to throw in, and that speaks highly to our depth and how comfortable we are with a lot of different guys.
“Energy’s high [right now], and we’re excited for our next match on Sunday against nationally-ranked Tiffin.”
The Wildcats now round out the opening road trip with a journey to Tiffin, Ohio, to play the #25-ranked Dragons on Sunday, August 30, at 2 p.m. ET.
How It Happened
The Wildcats took control of the tempo early, controlling possession and scoring chances from the first whistle. The ‘Cats won a corner just three minutes in, and after a perfectly placed in-swinging corner from the far side, senior captain Luca Rosen was able to capitalize from the scramble in the box, giving the ‘Cats its first tally of 2026.
It didn’t take but four minutes for Rosen to complete his brace, as the London, England native combined with Sergio Cano Castro to create a turnover from a poorly played pass out the back from goalkeeper Albie Perez. Rosen made a tackle and galloped with the ball into the box, making a decisive right-footed strike to find goal.
The goals came just 4:35 apart, just shy of 30 seconds apart from the program record for quickest two goals in succession (4:07, Eric Suess, Ben Hoffman vs. Walsh, 9/18/16 and
vs. Ferris State,12/14/16).
The Wildcats came out of the locker room with the same intensity as the start of the game, and were able to manufacture a goal after creating a turnover in and around the Timberwolves’ box. Xhoel Lutaj made an impressive move to intercept a pass and find Noah Preston Watkins all alone on the left-hand side of the box. The forward made a convincing right-footed strike, beating the keeper to the near side and extending the lead to three.
The ‘Cats forced another turnover, and Rosen was wide open in the box to receive a tap-in for his hat-trick, but the referee determined he was offside, taking away the captain’s hat-trick bid.
Jadon Thang scored his first career Wildcat goal, converting from a penalty kick in the 83rd minute. Robert Wright checked in at goal and had to face a penalty kick with just two minutes remaining, but was unable to stretch to a perfectly placed shot into the upper corner. Wright would be called into action in the dying seconds of the game, making a save from a point-blank header to close out the match.
