From left, Northern Michigan University's Justina Lesperance carries the ball down the field while being guarded by Grand Valley State University's Casey Lauer and Danielle Aitken during a collegiate women's soccer game at NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Photo by Carla Kamps)
MARQUETTE — The Northern Michigan University women's soccer team suffered a tough loss to the No. 1 team in the country, but came back with a commanding win over Davenport on the Wildcats' opening weekend of the GLIAC this season.
Playing at home, NMU lost 1-0 to top-ranked Grand Valley State University, allowing the lone goal more than an hour into the game, but then rallied to beat the Panthers 3-0.
Northern is 3-2-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference with a GLIAC trip scheduled for later this week. The Wildcats will travel to Chicago to face Roosevelt for the first time on Friday at 3 p.m. EDT before traveling around the southern end of Lake Michigan to take on Purdue Northwest on Sunday at noon EDT in Hammond, Indiana.
Northern returns home next weekend for more conference play, hosting Ferris State on Friday, Oct. 4 and Saginaw Valley State on Sunday, Oct. 6.
Here's a rundown of last weekend's plays:
Northern Michigan University's Kenna Alexander (right) and Grand Valley State University's Taylor Reed compete for the ball during a women's college soccer game at NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Friday. (Photo by Carla Kamps)
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Grand Valley State
From left, Northern Michigan University's Justina Lesperance, guarded by Grand Valley State University's Casey Lauer and Danielle Aitken, carries the ball down the field and competes for the ball during a varsity women's soccer game at NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Photo by Kara Kamps) Northern Michigan University's Kenna Alexander, right, and Grand Valley State University's Taylor Reed compete for the ball during a varsity women's soccer game at NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (Photo by Kara Kamps)
1, NMU 0
On Friday afternoon at NMU Soccer Field, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation improved to 4-0-1 when Ella Kleiber scored her first goal of the season in the 66th minute. According to a game report provided by NMU Sports Information, teammate Taylor Reed controlled the ball and sent it to Kleiber, who received it right under Northern goalkeeper Sally Patton.
Patton, making his third start of the season, recorded five saves as the Wildcats outshot the Lakers 21-14 and 7-6, including a spectacular save around the 29th minute of the first half, when he jumped to smack the ball away from the high right corner, according to NMU SI.
Four of Patton's saves came after GVSU held a 4-3 shot advantage in the first half, but NMU turned the tide in the second half, despite not scoring, to hold a 4-2 shot advantage.
The corner kicks were pretty even, with Northern taking seven and Grand Valley taking six.
In addition to Kleiber's goal, another memorable aspect of the game was that an extended lightning stoppage was called about 10 minutes after the goal, with just under 15 minutes left in the game.
When play resumed, NMU had seven shots without a response from the Lakers, but couldn't get any on goal by GVSU goalie Kaylin Janke, according to NMU SI.
Madison Bilbia, Justina Lesperance and Angelina Pellitano led the Wildcats with four shots each, while Bilbia and Brooke Pietila, who combined for three shots, each made two.
The Wildcats were held scoreless despite taking eight shots from inside the box throughout the game and seven in the final period after the restart. The shutout snapped NMU's 17-game point streak. The last time NMU recorded a zero-point deficit was on Sept. 29, 2023, in a scoreless home tie against GVSU.
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NMU 3, Davenport 0
According to NMU SI, the game played Sunday afternoon at NMU Soccer Field was a fairly even contest statistically, but the play and score showed the Wildcats were dominant from start to finish.
“I thought we were pretty close to our (90-minute) performance and had the game under control,” Northern head coach John Sandoval said in NMU SI's game report. “We didn't play great, but strong teams find a way (to win) even when they're not playing their best, and we did that.”
Patton made three saves for the shutout win, his second with the Wildcats, as Sandoval's squad now has 29 wins, three losses and seven ties at home since taking over at the start of 2020.
Northern displayed a strong offense and solid defense to take the lead in the 22nd minute when Hannah Kastamo scored her second goal of the season, according to NMU SI.
Pietila created the scoring opportunity with a powerful pass from a corner kick, and teammate Irene Kiirunen cleverly put the ball back into the box, opening the way for Kastamo, who grabbed the chance to score.
Just 13 minutes later, the Wildcats' Molly Pistorius started a breakaway, sprinted past a defender and fired a shot that was saved by DU goalkeeper Elizabeth Walter, and Northern's Allison Croll reacted quickly to get the rebound and score.
By halftime, NMU not only led 2-0, but also outshot the Panthers 5-1 and 12-2 in shots, and Northern also earned its only three corner kicks of the first half.
The second half was evenly matched, but Northern scored its only goal in the final 45 minutes, when Pietila shot from just outside the penalty area in the 66th minute, powerfully slotting the ball into the bottom right corner, according to NMU SI.
Late in the game, Davenport's Madison Fant managed to slip past Patton and send the ball toward the left post, just out of Patton's reach, but just as it was about to go in, Northern's Maria Storm cleared the ball at the last moment.
Still, DU held an 11-4 advantage in shots overall and 3-2 in shots on goal in the second half, making the final statistics fairly even.
Pietila now has 15 goals for the Wildcats, while Pistorius is tied for the team lead in assists with his second of the season.
Information was compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His e-mail address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.
ALMA 44, NORTHERN MICHIGAN 27 —————————— Saturday at the Superior Dome…
