Parkside 3, Northern Michigan 0
The Parkside men's soccer team played their final game of the regular season on Thursday, Nov. 4, as they took on the Wildcats of Northern Michigan in Marquette, Mich. The season finale had big implications on the line, as a win would clinch a GLIAC regular season title for the Rangers and give the Rangers home field advantage in the GLIAC tournament. If the Rangers felt any pressure, it did not show, as the Rangers had their way with the Wildcats as they earned their sixth shutout victory this season. The Rangers have been named co-champions with the Davenport Panthers, as the Panthers defeated Purdue Northwest today 3-1. This is the second GLIAC regular season title for head coach
Jason Zitzke in his 11 seasons leading the Rangers, with the first coming in 2019.
Like us on Facebook: Parkside Ranger Athletics
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers offense got on the board first in the 31
st minute as redshirt-junior
Rade Novakovich scored his 20
th goal of the season. Novakovich then scored his 21st goal of the year in the 53
rd minute to put the Rangers up by two. Redshirt-freshman
Matteo Quintero earned the assist on that goal. Quintero later earned a goal of his own in the 88
th minute, with the assist coming from redshirt-freshman
Mario Bolado.
HEAR FROM COACH ZITZKE
"I'm very proud of how this team finished the regular season. We hit a little bit of a bump in the middle of the season, but the guys were able to right the ship and finish strong. We are looking forward to hosting the GLIAC tournament, and we just want to keep playing together as long as we can."
STATWORTHY
Novakovich earned his 20
th and 21
st goals of the year. He led the country heading into this weekend with 19 goals. Quintero earned his fourth goal and fifth assist of the season. Bolado picked up his first career assist during today's match. Junior
Alexandre Durand started in goal for the Rangers, tallying two saves in his seventh shutout performance of the season.
HEATING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME
The Rangers are currently riding a six-game winning streak and are 7-2-1 in their last ten matches. During the 6-game win streak, they have outscored their opponents 20-2. They are now up to No. 3 in the latest NCAA II Super Regional rankings, trailing Maryville and UIndy. Parkside will enter the GLIAC Tournament with an overall record of 13-3-2 and an impressive 7-1-1 mark on the road this year.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE RANGERS
Parkside has the higher goal differential over Davenport and will host the semi-finals on Nov. 12 and the GLIAC championship match on Nov. 14. Both the Rangers and the Panthers have earned a bye in the quarter-finals and will wait to learn who their opponents will be in the semi-finals. Information regarding times of the semi-finals and championship match will be announced in the coming days on ParksideRangers.com. The GLIAC tournament bracket can be found below.

Â