Huskies Soccer Opens Season Hosting St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth

HOUGHTON, Mich. – For the third consecutive season, the Michigan Tech soccer team starts the season with match ups against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, welcoming the NSIC foes to Kearly Stadium on Thursday and Saturday.

The Huskies will face St. Cloud State at 7 p.m. on Thursday and a Saturday matinee against Minnesota Duluth slated for a noon start.

Flosports

Michigan Tech soccer in partnership with the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced a four-year media partnership with FloSports beginning the fall of 2022. Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football, soccer, and hockey with one subscription. Anyone who subscribes using a GLIAC member institution domain (.edu) e-mail address will be eligible for an additional discounted subscription rate. Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages - monthly and annual. Fans can sign up for monthly, or annual subscriptions here. FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

About St. Cloud State

St. Cloud State played to a 7-7-4 record and a 6-5-4 mark in NSIC play last season, while head coach Gretta Macdonald became the team's all-time winningest coach with 64 wins. In the NSIC Preseason Poll, the Huskies were selected to finish eighth.

Sophomore forward Ellie Primerano and junior defender Rheana Zerna were named the preseason players to watch by the NSIC.

Primerano played in 11 matches as a freshman and recorded three assists while earning NSIC Second Team honors. Zerna recorded eight shutouts and allowed just 0.89 goals per game in 2022. She played 1,065 minutes and started all 13 matches she played in 2022.

About Minnesota Duluth

Minnesota Duluth went 8-7-3 overall with an NSIC ledger of 7-5-3 a year ago. The Bulldogs were tabbed to finish ninth in the NSIC Preseason Poll. 

Senior forward Jackie Jares and defender Rachel Boelke were named preseason players to watch by the NSIC.

Jares led the Bulldogs in scoring a season ago, with four goals, including a game-winner and five assists for 13 points over 15 starts. She serves as one of three captains this fall, and has compiled 20 points on seven goals and six assists over her career.

Boelke returns to UMD as a 2022 NSIC First Team All-Conference selection after a three-point (1g, 1a) junior campaign. She helped the Bulldogs to five shutouts in 2022 and led the team with 1,404 minutes played. 

About Michigan Tech

A season ago, Michigan Tech went 7-9-3 overall with a conference standing of 5-6-3. Head coach Bulut Ozturk returns for his fourth season at the helm of the Huskies, returning 19 members from last season while adding nine newcomers to the 2023 roster. The Huskies were tabbed to finish fifth in the GLIAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.

Michigan Tech returns two First Team All-GLIAC honorees in senior defender Molly Bolang and  goalkeeper Gracie VanLangevelde, who both played vital roles in Tech's defensive success that posted eight shutouts a season ago. 

Bolang, hailing from Pinckney, Michigan, logged 1,642 minutes a season ago, playing all 90 minutes in 16 games. VanLangevelde, coming from Spring Lake, Michigan, was tabbed GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week twice in the 2022 campaign and ranked second in the GLIAC in both saves (81) and save percentage (.818).

Offensively, the Huskies return junior forward Julia Pietila, who led the team in shots on goal a season ago with 15 to go with three goals and sophomore forward/midfielder Alyvia Sanom, who accounted for two goals and an assist in her freshman campaign.