The University of Minnesota Duluth soccer team will kick-off its 32nd season in program history this weekend when the Bulldogs travel to Michigan for two non-conference games this Friday and Sunday. UMD will stop in Houghton, Mich. first to face Michigan Tech University at 5:00 p.m. Friday in Kearly Stadium before wrapping up the weekend in Marquette against Northern Michigan University at 11:00 a.m. at NMU Soccer Field.
HE'S STILL THE ONE: Bulldog head coach Greg Cane is in his 32nd season at the helm of the Bulldogs, the only head coach the program has known. Currently, his 298 wins over his 34 overall seasons in college soccer ranks him 15th among all Division II active head coaches. All-time at UMD, Cane has a record of 283-208-63, while his overall coaching record, which includes four seasons at the Division III College of St. Scholastica is 298-243-55.
LOTS OF DOGS: The Bulldogs have a program-high 34 players on the roster, including 10 players new to the maroon and gold. Six of those players are freshmen, including two goalkeepers.
RETURNING TALENT: Despite 10 newcomers, UMD will rely heavily on its returners. That starts with the Bulldog quartet of captains: seniors Morgan Eckerle, Malory Russ, Miriam Marsan, and junior Jessica Eischens.
Eckerle played and started in all 17 games for the Bulldogs throughout the 2024 season, scoring one goal and tallying five assists – a team-high – over 1,207 total minutes on the field. Russ, like Eckerle, played in all 17 games and started in 13 games last season, tallying four shots on goal in eight total shots over 921 minutes on the field. Marsan played in 16 games with 13 total starts, and logged one goal in over 1,060 minutes on the field. Eischens played and started in all 17 games for the Bulldogs last season, tallying one goal and one assist over 1,428 total minutes on the field. The junior forward/midfielder is a two-time NSIC All Conference Second Team selection in both 2024 and 2023, and was nominated a NSIC Player to Watch just last month.
Sophomore defenders Kailey Tomzak and Gwendolyn Lilly are the only backliners who saw time in all 17 games last season, and Tomzak started in 16 of them. The Lakeville, Minn. native scored a goal and added three assists as a rookie, the fourth most points on the team in 2024. Lilly, who saw time in multiple spots as a freshman, scored three goals and added an assist – tying her with Eckerle for the second most points in 2024 (seven) and the second most goals.
While the Bulldogs have added a duo of new goalkeepers, UMD returns Kaycee Chavez between the pipes, a senior who transferred to the Bulldogs last season and started in all 15 games. Chavez, nominated an NSIC Defensive Player to Watch last month, made 90 saves over her junior season.
Notably lost to graduation was forward Anna Tobias, who led UMD in total points for two of the four seasons she was a Bulldog, including last season. As a senior in 2024, Tobias scored four goals and added two assists for 10 points in 17 games. Tobias signed with Real Meda of the Series A, Group A league in Italy this spring.
OPENING WEEKEND PREVIEW: The Bulldogs have opened the first two games of their last six seasons (2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic) against the squads from Michigan, a tradition that currently dates back to the 2018 season.
Against Michigan Tech: Over that six-game span, UMD is 1-4-1 against the Huskies, and the Bulldogs are upside down against MTU all-time with a record of 2-6-1. UMD will be chasing its first win against the Huskies since August 25, 2022, a 2-1 Bulldog triumph in Duluth. Another bit of history will be on the line for UMD – the maroon and gold hasn't pocketed a win in Houghton since Sept. 10, 2017, a 3-1 victory..
One season ago in Duluth, the Huskies broke a 0-0 halftime tie just under three minutes into the second half to score the only goal of the game for a 1-0 defeat of the Bulldogs. MTU outshot UMD 11-9 overall, but each side landed five shots on goal. The game was physical – UMD was cited for 11 fouls, while the Huskies were called for eight – which included two yellow cards.
The Huskies were chosen to finish in a tie for sixth in the ever-competitive GLIAC prseason coaches poll after going 6-11-1 overall and 4-9-1 in 2024. Head coach Melissa Kuhar returns for her second year as MTU's bench boss.
Against Northern Michigan: UMD has had a favorable history against the Wildcats, one that started back in the 1996 season. Since then, the Bulldogs have gone 17-8-3 against NMU. Over the past decade, that record has tightened to 4-4, and UMD will hit the field Sunday looking for its first win over the Wildcats since 2019 (a 1-0 win at home) after suffering four-straight losses since then. In those last four setbacks, the Wildcats have outscored the Bulldogs 18-5, including a 6-1 loss one season ago on Griggs Field on Sept. 5, 2024.
NMU was selected to finish 4th in the GLIAC in 2025 after back-to-back regular and postseason conference championships and a third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats are under the leadership of first-year head coach Erin Egolf, who was hired in late February.
BULLDOG NOTES: UMD went 2-13-3 overall in 2024 and 2-9-3 in NSIC play … the Bulldogs were picked to finish 11th in the NSIC in last month's preseason poll … UMD is looking for its first opening season win since it defeated MTU 2-1 on August 25, 2022 … the last time UMD won two season-opening games? 2017, with wins over Wisconsin-Parkside (3-0) and Northern Michigan (2-0) – though the Parkside game took place in Duluth August 31, 2017 and the NMU win on Sept. 8, 2024 on the road .. the Bulldogs had seven-game winning streak to lead off the 2000 season – a program record winning streak to start a season … UMD's most recent winning streak to begin a season (and second longest in program history) was four in 2017.
