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 ever known. Cane secured his 300th win last season on Sept. 19, 2025 against the University of Sioux Falls, a 5-1 triumph that fittingly happened on Griggs field. Currently, his 304 wins over his 35 overall seasons in college soccer ranks him 14th among all Division II active head coaches. All-time at UMD, Cane has a record of 289-216-67 (.564), while his overall coaching record, which includes four seasons at the Division III College of St. Scholastica is 304-251-69 (.542).

LOTS OF DOGS: The Bulldogs have a 32 players on the roster after keeping a  program-high 34 players on the roster last season. For 2026, nine players will be new to the maroon and gold, and four of those rookies hail from the state of Wisconsin.

RETURNING TALENT: Despite nine newcomers, UMD will rely heavily on its returners. Three of UMD's five top scorers in 2025 return in 2026, including junior forward Kati Beavers (4g, 4a, eight points), and senior midfield/forward Jessica Eischens (2g, 6a, 10 points) and sophomore midfielder Nora Helvig (2g, 2a, six points). 

Beavers started in 14 of UMD's 15 games, and logged points in five games. She also recorded a season-high five points on two goals and an assist against USF on Sept. 19. Eischens, who hails from North Oaks, Minn., is a three-time NSIC All-Conference Second Team selection and named UMD's NSIC Offensive Player to Watch this fall, scored two goals and added six assists last season – a team best effort. Helvig is looking to improve on her rookie campaign and took the third most shots on the team (25) last season.

Tomzak, a product of Lakeville n. started in all 18 games for UMD and recorded two assists with four shots on goal.

For a second-straight season, junior defenders Kailey Tomzak and Gwendolyn Lilly were the only backliners who saw time in all 18 games last season, and Tomzak started in all 18, while Lilly started in 17. Tomzak, named the Bulldogs' NSIC Defensive Player to Watch ahead of the season, is a Lakeville, Minn. native recorded two assists with four shots on goal. Lilly, who saw time in multiple spots as a freshman, scored one goal to run her career total to four as a Bulldog. An Esko, Minn. product, Lilly also ranked second on the team for minutes played – 1,483 and has now played 2,278 over her career. 

While the Bulldogs have added a new goalkeeper in the form of Jordin Flohaug from Duluth, Minn. and daughter of former UMD goaltender Ginger Jeffery, who still owns a plethora of Bulldog records, UMD has three other goalkeepers in the pen, and the returning core looks to take over the net. Sophomore goaltender Jordan Rosenfeld was the only UMD goaltender currently rostered that started in a game last season, and in her one game of action earned a tie. UMD graduated Kaycee Chavez, who started 32 of a possible 33 games over her two seasons with the Bulldogs.

Notably, UMD lost its top-two leading scorers Elaina Shromoff (6g, 1a, 13 points) and Miriam Marsen (4g, 4a, 12 points) to graduation.

OPENING WEEKEND PREVIEW: The Bulldogs have opened the first two games of their last seven 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 seven-game span, UMD is 2-4-1 against the Huskies, and the Bulldogs are upside down against MTU all-time with a record of 3-6-1. UMD will be chasing back-to-back wins against the Huskies after picking up a season-opening 1-0 triumph last season on Sept. 5. That was UMD's first win in Houghton since Sept. 10, 2017, a 3-1 victory. The Bulldogs have never won back-to-back against MTU in program history.

Last season, UMD's Gwendolyn Lilly'a goal off a corner kick late in the second half sealed a season-opening win.

Senior goaltender Kaycee Chavez earned the shutout on four saves. UMD outshot the Huskies 14-9 overall, but MTU owned a 3-1 advantage on corner kicks. The physical contest (UMD was called for 11 fouls, the Huskies four) was led in shots by junior Jessica Eischens, who had a game-high three shots and was the only Bulldog with multiple shots. 

The Huskies were chosen to finish last in the ever-competitive GLIAC preseason coaches poll after going 2-15-1 overall and 2-11-1 in 2025. Head coach Melissa Kuhar returns for her third 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 17-8-4 against NMU. Over the past decade, that record has tightened to 4-4-1, and UMD will hit the field Sunday looking for its first win over the Wildcats since 2019 (a 1-0 win at home) after going 0-4-1 since then. In those last five games, the Wildcats have outscored the Bulldogs 18-5 and UMD has gone just 2-3-1 on the road against NMU since 2013. The two sides came to a 0-0 decision last season on Sept. 7, 2026 in Marquette, Mich. 

NMU was selected to finish 5th in the GLIAC in 2026 after going 6-6-2 in conference play last season and posting a 7-8-5 overall record.The Wildcats are under the leadership of second-year head coach Erin Egolf, who was hired in late February of 2025.

BULLDOG NOTES: UMD went 6-8-4 overall in 2025 and 5-7-3 in NSIC play … the Bulldogs were picked to finish 10th in the NSIC in last month's preseason poll … UMD is looking for its third-ever opening season win against MTU and for back-to-back season wins to open a year for the first time since UMD did it in 2016 and 2017 … the last time UMD won two season-opening games in a row? 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.