Wildcat Men’s Soccer Releases 2021-22 Schedule
Courtesy: Northern Michigan Wildcats
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The 2021-22 Northern Michigan University men’s soccer schedule has been released and it includes eight home matches and nine away tilts.
The Wildcats open up the season on the road this year as they travel to Illinois to face non-conference opponent Judson. NMU takes the home turf for the first time in 2021-22 on Sunday, September 5 as Quincy University travels to Marquette. The Wildcats finish up their play outside of the GLIAC on Thursday, September 9 when they travel to Lewis University.
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) portion of the schedule begins with a two-match road swing. On Friday, September 17 the team heads downstate to face defending GLIAC Regular-Season Champions Saginaw Valley State University and on Sunday, September 19 NMU takes on Northwood University, which they defeated last year in their lone meeting, on the Timberwolves’ home pitch.
A two-match weekend slate brings the Wildcats back to Marquette. Purdue University Northwest will take on NMU Friday, September 24 while Davenport University will take on the Wildcats on Sunday, September 26.
Back-to-back weekends on the road follow for NMU. The first weekend of October sees the Wildcats at Upper Iowa on Friday, October 1, and at new GLIAC affiliate member St. Cloud State University on Sunday, October 3. The next weekend, on Sunday, October 10, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, who finished second in the GLIAC last year, hosts NMU.
Northwood and Saginaw Valley State come to Marquette to face the Wildcats again during Wildcat Weekend on October 15 and 17, respectively. NMU hits the road for their final two road matches on Friday, October 22 to face Davenport for the second time and then take on Purdue Northwest Sunday, November 24.
Three home matches conclude the regular season for the Wildcats. NMU hosts St. Cloud State on Friday, October 29 followed by Senior Day on Sunday, October 31 when the Wildcats clash with the Peacocks of Upper Iowa. The regular season comes to a close when Parkside and NMU meet in Marquette on Thursday, November 4.
“I think our schedule is a balanced one that gives us an opportunity to see what progress we’ve made over the last year,” said head coach David Poggi.
“One of the big things this year is being prepared for two-match weekends,” added Poggi. “Last season, in the pandemic-adjusted season we played one-match weekends. The two matches are tough physically and you also have to factor in the travel and general interruption to the team’s training in a week. We hope to hit the ground running and adjust as the season goes on.”
“We return all of last year’s starters as well as some great additions in the incoming recruiting class,” concluded Poggi.
The Wildcats advanced to the GLIAC Tournament for the fourth-straight season in 2020-21 and earned the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The program had four student-athletes honored on All-GLIAC teams at the conclusion of the season which was a program record.
To view the full schedule click here.