Northern Michigan University’s Isabela Cardoso, left, vies for the ball with Ashland’s Emily Mark during their GLIAC soccer game played Sunday at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette. (Journal photo by Amy Grigas)

MARQUETTE — Not much has gone right for the Northern Michigan University women’s soccer team lately.

The Wildcats suffered their fourth consecutive loss on Sunday afternoon, falling to nationally ranked Ashland 5-0 at the NMU Soccer Field.

Northern dropped to 3-11 on the season and 0-6 in GLIAC matches after being shut out for the second time in three days. The Wildcats have now gone over 199 minutes without scoring a goal.

The Eagles (12-1-1, 6-0 GLIAC) are ranked No. 14 in NCAA Division II and sit tied for first atop the conference for a reason, and it was evident on Sunday. AU seemed to dominate possession, registering 19 total shots to NMU’s 10.

The score was 1-0 at halftime as the Eagles had several breakaway chances on Wildcats junior goalkeeper Brianna Frontuto before AU junior midfielder Nadya Boualany finally put one of those breaks into the net in the 18th minute. That goal was assisted by senior forward Deijah Swihart and sophomore forward Faith Lewis.

Shots were 10-2 in favor of Ashland at halftime, with Frontuto making four saves.

The Eagles’ second goal came just over two minutes into the second half with sophomore midfielder Bella Petrock kicking one over the head of Frontuto after an NMU giveaway in the box to make it 2-0.

Swihart added the third AU goal about five minutes later on another breakaway, assisted by Petrock and junior defender Hillary Mihalik. It was Swihart’s eighth goal of the season.

The Eagles added two more goals, one from senior forward Emily Ledbetter which was assisted by senior midfielder Julianna Markovic, and the other an unassisted tally from freshman forward Bailey Clark.

Northern’s best chances came in the final 10 minutes, the first with sophomore midfielder Natalie Stampfly putting a shot off the right post of the AU goal. Another shot went off the right post just minutes later on NMU’s only corner kick of the game, while sophomore midfielder Caroline Halonen sent another shot wide left with just over five minutes to go.

Frontuto made one more save in the second half for a total of five. Eagles junior goalkeeper Hannah Lee faced just one shot on net, recording one save.

Total shots were more even in the second half, with Ashland holding a 9-8 advantage. Sophomore forward Rachael Erste led the Wildcats with three shots, while Halonen and senior defender Kaitlynn Benson had two shots each.

Northern continues GLIAC play on Friday, visiting Purdue Northwest (2-11-1, 0-6 GLIAC) at 3:30 p.m. before a Sunday tilt at Wisconsin-Parkside (5-9-1, 0-5-1 GLIAC) beginning at noon.

Email Ryan Spitza at sports@miningjournal.net.