Great Lakes Wire

Northern Michigan University athletics teams competed in several events from October 6 to October 12, with notable performances across football, hockey, volleyball, soccer, cross country, and golf.

The football team faced No. 8 Grand Valley State at the Superior Dome, tying 7-7 at halftime before conceding four touchdowns in the second half for a 35-7 loss. The Wildcats' defense held strong early with an interception by Murphy Monreal and multiple sacks. Noah Dobert led rushing with 61 yards and scored NMU's only touchdown. Jax Hertel and Mitch Larkin combined for 25 tackles. The game also marked the 50th anniversary of NMU's 1975 National Championship Team and included the halftime retirement of quarterback Steve Mariucci's jersey.

In hockey, NMU played two games against No. 16 Ohio State on the road. On Friday, Peter Cisar and Michael Burchill each recorded their first collegiate goals and assists in a 5-2 loss. Goalie William Gramme made 29 saves before being replaced by Oliver Auyeung-Ashton, who stopped all eight shots he faced. On Saturday, Auyeung-Ashton made his first career start and registered 45 saves—the highest for an NMU freshman in their debut since 2004—in a 3-1 defeat. Freshman Landon MacDonald scored his first collegiate goal in his debut.

The volleyball team secured two wins: a five-set victory over Michigan Tech after overcoming a deficit in the final set and a four-set win against Purdue Northwest. Against Michigan Tech, libero Liesl Haugen posted a career-best 38 digs, the most in the GLIAC this season and fifth-highest nationally in Division II for a single match. In the match versus Purdue Northwest, McKenzie Gruner and Kaylie McIntosh each had 14 kills as NMU extended its winning streak to six matches.

Men’s soccer earned a significant win over No. 17 Saginaw Valley State with Luca Rosen scoring his fourth goal in five games and Asaf Kristal making 12 saves despite playing down a man for over half an hour after Tyler Kowalczyk received a red card following VAR review. The team then drew Davenport 1-1; Rosen again scored but NMU could not convert chances despite having a numerical advantage due to wind conditions affecting play.

Women's soccer lost to Michigan Tech 1-0 despite outshooting their opponent and dominating possession and corners. Olivia Gette of MTU scored on a long-range free kick aided by wind conditions while goalkeeper Bri Barrows secured her team's first shutout of the season.

In cross country, Northern Michigan’s women’s team finished first out of eighteen at the Royals Challenge hosted by Queens University of Charlotte. Madi Szymanski broke the program's longstanding 5K record with a time of 17:18.7 for third place overall; Ashley Choponis was fourth as top underclassman among more than one hundred runners.

Men's golf saw senior Tyler Annala finish second at the Flyer Fall Intercollegiate after losing in a playoff but recording his best-ever tournament result with ten birdies over three rounds—a score ranking tenth-best in school history for three rounds. At the DU Panther Invite, Annala tied with Harvey Ylitalo as both finished just outside the top thirty.

For women's golf, Maddy Martens placed seventeenth at the Flyer Fall Intercollegiate with five birdies and twenty-seven pars across three rounds while Payton Donnelly was second on her team overall.

The weekend featured individual achievements alongside several strong team results across multiple sports for Northern Michigan University athletics.