Strong Start for Nordmen as Season Heats up
After dropping their season opener in overtime to the Hämeenlinna Tigers, the Rovaniemi Nordmen have had back-to-back strong outings to wrap up the first month of the season. The Nordmen will hit the road again on Sunday, July 5th for a showdown with a familiar foe – the defending 2nd Division Champion Kokkola Scorpions. After dropping their last two games to the Scorpions, the Nordmen will look to return to form against Kokkola and earn their first win against the Scorpions since June 2024.
Heartbreaking Loss to Start the Season
The Rovaniemi Nordmen started their 2026 campaign on the road against the Hämeenlinna Tigers on June 7th. After a late loss in the semifinals to the Tigers in 2025, the Nordmen were out for blood – hoping to avenge the bitter defeat that they suffered the last time they went down to Hämeenlinna. The game started out rough with the Tigers taking an early lead, but the Nordmen offense was able to put some pieces together Thanks to a pair of first half receiving touchdowns from Ville Kulmala from QB Jack Brill. Kaarle Silander was good on both PATs to leave the Nordmen trailing the Tigers by a score of 20 – 14 at the half.
The Nordmen defense stepped up in the second half and were able to take the lead on a long pass to Alfonso Ikäheimo from Jack Brill with Kaarle Silander adding the PAT to give the Nordmen a 20 – 21 lead at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter saw hard defense from both teams with back and forth momentum swings. Another Tigers score and 2pt conversion gave them the lead, but the Nordmen answered with Ville Kulmala scoring hit hat trick touchdown from Jack Brill – his fourth passing TD of the day – as Kaarle Silander improved to 4/4 on the day for PATs.
The overtime period more or less speaks for itself. The Nordmen failed to convert on their offensive possession and surrendered the winning touchdown to the Tigers; ending the game with a heartbreaking defeat, despite the valiant effort.
The Old Nemesis Comes to Lapland
The Nordmen home opener saw the Warriors of the Four Winds face off against the Kotka Eagles – a team that the Nordmen had never beaten.
Until that day.
In front of a raucous crowd, the Nordmen battled against a roster of players that was comprised primarily of 2025 1st Division Champions from the Kuusankoski Cowboys, as well as some support from the Porvoo Butchers, thanks to their farm deal with the defending Maple League champions. The Nordmen weren’t intimidated by the formidable roster, but rather stepped up and accepted the challenge.
Similar to their week one game, the Nordmen played from behind for most of the first half. RB Miika Virkki got the Nordmen on the board in the first quarter, while Olli Salmela reeled in both a touchdown and a 2pt conversion just before time expired in the first half with the Nordmen trailing the Eagles by a score of 14 – 21.
The Warriors of the Four Winds came out with guns blazing in the second half, notching two touchdowns in the 3rd quarter by rookie RB Juuso Herranen and sure-handed TE, Alfonso Ikäheimo. With those two scores, the Nordmen entered the fourth quarter with a 26 – 21 lead in a very physical matchup.
The Eagles recaptured the lead early in the fourth quarter, going up by one. Kotka’s starting QB suffered an injury and Finnish legend of the gridiron, Niclas “Nesi” Carpela stepped onto the turf in an effort to try and hold onto the slim lead, but the rust was just a bit too tough to knock off. A strip sack by Ville Kulmala led to a very friendly Nordmen bounce and directly into the hands of DB Roni Laine who picked up the ball in mid-stride and easily walked in for a Nordmen touchdown. A late interception by rookie DB Matias Kauppinen put the Nordmen in great field position and led to a late field goal for Juuso Herranen and bringing to score to 35 – 27. The Eagles attempted to mount once last effort, but fell short as time ran out resulting in a thrilling victory in front of a wild crowd of supporters at Susivouti.
Offensive Records & Defensive Dominance
After the midsummer break, the Nordmen welcomed an old foe to sunny Susivouti as the Pori Bears arrived, having dropped their last two games against the Warriors of the Four Winds. With both teams entering the game with a 1 – 1 record, the winner would emerge from this game with a two-game win streak heading into the longest stretch of the season – six games over the next six weeks. Although the Bears came up to Rovaniemi with a rather small roster, they still had upset on their minds.
That did not work out well for them.
The Nordmen started off fast and never looked back, taking a 33 – 0 lead after the first quarter of with the offense scoring four touchdowns from Alfonso Ikäheimo, Juuso Herranen, and a pair of TDs for Miika Virkki. Not to be outdone, the Nordmen defense pitched a dominating shutout in the first quarter and also scored on a pick-6 by Roni Laine. It was clear from the get-go that the Nordmen meant business and that the Bears just didn’t have enough cards up their sleeves to even their odds.
The second quarter began much like the first quarter with another touchdown for Miika Virkki right out of the gate. A long bomb to Olli Salmela saw the Nordmen enter half time with a 47 – 0 lead over the boys from Pori.
The second half began with a running clock, as the Nordmen had a lead of more than 34 points on the visiting Bears. This limited the time available for the Nordmen to excessively extend their lead, but Rovaniemi was still able to score in each quarter with Miika Virkki reaching the promised land for the fourth time on the day and Juuso Herranen putting the final nail in the coffin in the final quarter of play. Herranen also collected 7 additional points, connecting on 7 of his 9 PAT attempts and resulting in a 61 – 0 victory over the Pori Bears – a team record for points scored in a game.
Looking Forward, but Taking it One Game at a Time
The Nordmen will hit the road again this weekend, as they make the “short” trip to Kokkola to face off against the Scorpions. A drive of “only” about 5,5 hours, this will be the closest away game of the season for the Warriors of the Four Winds. Kokkola heads into the game with a record of one win and two losses with a victory over the Pori Bears being their lone win on the season. After back-to-back blowout losses to the Hämeenlinna Tigers and the Joensuu Wolves, the Scorpions will likely be looking to reassert home field dominance against the Nordmen, but that may prove to be easier said than done.
The Nordmen enter the game with a two-game winning streak, made all the more impressive because of the offensive outputs and also because the Kotka Eagles beating of the Hämeenlinna Tigers last weekend in Kotka. The Nordmen have seemed to put it all together and after the hiccup in Hämeelina will be seeking to improve their record to 3 – 1 on the season and put themselves in a good position heading into the second half of the 2026 season.
There’s still a lot of football left to play, so we won’t speculate anything beyond this weekend, but it would appear that the heat is rising in Rovaniemi which is a very good thing for the Nordmen.
