Great Lakes Wire

Join Alex Fatovic and the NMU men's soccer team as they open 2024 with a trio of pre-season exhibition matches in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin.

"I think everyone is excited to kick off our season, and we couldn't have asked for a better opening exhibition," says head coach Fatovic. "We haven't played a match together since April 7th, and we're facing a difficult and well-coached opponent in Madonna, while at the same time bringing our program to an awesome soccer and supportive NMU community in Petoskey and Lower Northern Michigan. We'd love to see you come out and support the 'Cats!"

The 'Cats open the pre-season campaign with a neutral site match against NAIA opponent Madonna University on Friday, August 23, at 1:00 PM EST at the Petoskey High School field.

Madonna was recently picked to finish third in this year's WHAC pre-season poll after posting a record of 11-5-4 and bowing out in the second round of the WHAC playoffs.

From there, the team travels to Superior, Wisconsin on Tuesday, August 27, for a double-header against UW Superior and the College of St. Scholastica at 3:00 PM EST and 4:45 PM EST, respectively.

"The Madonna match sets us up nicely for a tough two-game day event in Wisconsin," says Fatovic. "This will be great preparation to build toward having a great season."

UW Superior ended 2023 with a 17-4-2 record, secured its sixth straight UMAC regular season title and seventh straight UMAC post-season title, earning a bid to the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Division III opponent St. Scholastica finished 11th in the MIAC with a 2-14-1 overall record, missing the top six selected for post-season play.

Stay tuned to nmuwildcats.com and NMU Men's Soccer on social media for updates.