Game preview: Northern Lights vs Nordmen

THE BATTLE OF THE NORTH! The two most northern teams face each other again in week 2. Which one will be the king of the North?

The battle of the North is always a anticipated match up, who will rule the North? History tells its story, the most northern teams in the country have faced each other twice in the past. The Northern Lights took the first crown in 2016, then the Nordmen took it back in the most recent match-up in 2019 beating them 30-6. This week has been marked for sure by both teams from the get-go as THE game. Look no further for a tough, hard-fought fight against these two teams.

What to expect from the Northern Lights

For most people, their off-week is for relaxing. For HC Joonas Taina, he spent his week traveling to film the Nordmen game against the Gators in preparation of this week’s match-up. The Northern Lights enjoyed a bye week last week, and are kicking off their season at home against the Nordmen.

The lights have been active on the World Wide Web all off-season spilling all the info on how the team is doing. They have strengthened their lines with new players and have a big, versatile roster full of play-makers. Past years The Northern Lights have been a very run heavy team on offense, according to HC Taina they want to change to a more balanced offense for the 2022 campaign. On the defensive side of the ball, they are very physical and a well-coached group, who will try to wreck the opposing offense.

Like mentioned previously, The Northern Lights haven’t played a game this season so you might expect some growing pains with rookies getting a feel for the game and the first game jitters, overall. The biggest question mark is their newly appointed leader, QB Antti Kosonen. This young guy was announced as the starting QB just days before the game. We will find out on Sunday! Expect the defensive hair god LB Aleksi Statsevich to be a marked man by the Nordmen.

What to expect from the Nordmen

The Nordmen experienced some growing pains last week against the Gators, but after a sticky start they came out of the swamp with a win. They have a game under their belt, which made it possible to figure out their kinks after the first game. All the rookies got their first game jitters done and are ready to run on all cylinders into week 2. The Nordmen defense showed how deadly they are, with the leadership of DC Ryan Oliveira and the tackling monster Aurélien Germay; expect the defense to cause a lot of trouble for the home team offense. The defense gave up only 80 yards of offense against the Gators and have been working to perfect their game all week, so be ready for the defense to keep going where they left off.

The Nordmen offense started slow, but ended up with little over 300 yards of offense and 3 scores. QB Lucas Martinez has a wide variety of targets this week, so watch for him to spread the ball around. The speedy rookie trio of “the three amigos” (Olli Salmela, Miika Virkki and Aleksi Vaarala) had a big impact in their football debut and will be looking to go off in the battle of the North.The Nordmen pass offense is deadly, so backfield be ready! Expect the Nordmen to be much steadier all around the ball.

Important Info

Kick-off is at 12.30pm, Sunday 12th of June at Castrenin kenttä. Football is always best live, but in case you can’t make it you can find the game on YouTube on the Oulu Northern Lights channel.