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Not feeling Superior: Northern Michigan University lacrosse team falls 18-6 to nationally ranked Grand Valley State

Northern Michigan University’s Katelyn Mongold, second from left, fights through Grand Valley State defenders, from left, Maggie Hammer, Hope Leinen and Leigha Johnson as they try to stop the Wildcats’ player during the second half of their GLIAC lacrosse game played Sunday at the Superior Dome in Marquette. (Journal photo by Ryan Stieg)

MARQUETTE — On Sunday afternoon, the Northern Michigan University women’s lacrosse team took the field for the last time this season in the Superior Dome for a tough matchup against nationally ranked Grand Valley State.

It was a tough battle, but by the end of the match, it was the No. 8 Lakers who were feeling superior as they rolled 18-6. GVSU

jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first half and never looked back.

“Ultimately, they’re the No. 8 team in the country and they are the best in our conference, and ultimately, it’s kind of the uphill battle we’re going to have to fight every year in the league just because they are such a powerhouse compared to every other team in our conference,” NMU head coach Lindsey LeMay said. “It’s hard. They’re going to beat the mid-level teams in our conference unless we have a miracle change, or like next year when my recruits are here, I think there’s potential for differences, but right now, they’re just a different level of team.

“And they’ll be in the NCAA Tournament. They’re a good team.”

Tess Kostelec, Kaitlyn Bridger and Katelyn Mongold each had two goals for the Wildcats, while goalkeeper Cam Stilson made five saves.

Northern Michigan University's Kaitlyn Bridger, left, weaves past Grand Valley State's Maggie Hammer and toward the Lakers' net to score a goal during the first half of their GLIAC lacrosse game played Sunday at the Superior Dome in Marquette. (Journal photo by Ryan Stieg)

After the Lakers came out firing in the first half, Mongold got NMU on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal with 20:20 left. GVSU built its advantage to 8-1 before Bridger ended the surge by weaving her way toward the net in the Lakers’ zone for a goal.

Grand Valley then got a tally by Sydney Stone, but Mongold answered with 9:30 left on an unassisted goal. The Lakers led 13-3 at the half.

On paper, it looked like Stilson may have had a rough game, but LeMay said the score can be deceiving simply because the Lakers are so talented.

“It’s always hard when the score looks like it is, but they have very good shot placement,” LeMay said. “She really didn’t sink into her head and she really was able to keep playing and did have some very good saves. When you have that many weapons on a team, there’s just shots coming from everywhere and you can’t save all of them.

“But I think she did very well, especially since she played a full 60 (minutes) for both of these Grand Valley games. So she saw a lot of shots. She had a lot of good saves.”

GV opened the second half with two goals before Kostelec got both her goals on back-to-back shots. Her first goal was unassisted with 23:04 left and her second came off a great pass from Aleya Speas with 20:53 to go to cut the Lakers’ advantage to 15-5. After a goal by Grand Valley’s Hailey Crittenden, Bridger finished off Northern’s scoring on a rebound with 12:39 remaining.

“Our offense is statistically one of the best in the conference,” LeMay said. “We’re not used to being pressured the same way like we pressure ourselves in practice. Like we expect … game defense to be easier than our practice defense, and obviously Grand Valley is a very good team.

“So they come out and they pressure us and we aren’t used to having to dodge so much earlier and have to space so much better. So it did take us a lot longer to kind of figure that out.

“But by the end of the game, we’re moving well. We were spaced. It’s just we weren’t able to turn it on early, which we were Friday. So I think that’s something that we’ll definitely work on.”

Northern closes out the regular season next weekend at Davenport in Grand Rapids.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.

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