ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Junior Brenna Musser and sophomore Justina L’Esperance scored goals less than a minute apart early in the second half to lead the Northern Michigan University women’s soccer team to a season-opening 2-0 win at St. Cloud State on Thursday evening.

Musser scored the Wildcats’ first goal of the season less than three minutes into the second half, knocking the ball between the Huskies goalkeeper’s legs. L’Esperance needed just another 47 seconds to make it a two-goal lead after she grabbed a rebound in front of the SCSU goal and fired the ball in.

“Today was a really good first win for us,” Musser said. “We weren’t given anything easy, but we came out in the second half and were able to raise the level (of our play) and secure the win.

“I’m super proud of the team for the way we responded. We still have plenty of things to work on, but our team is very talented and the game we put together tonight shows that.”

Despite the scoreless first half, NMU also dominated then, getting all four of the shots on goal, including early shots by Brooke Pietila and Rachael Erste.

While the Musser goal was unassisted, the L’Esperance goal was assisted by freshman Molly Pistorius after she fired a shot on net before L’Esperance took advantage of the rebound.

In the 64th minute, Northern goalkeeper Shenae Kreps faced her first shot on goal and used her legs to block a low shot attempt.

Musser’s goal was her seventh collegiate score, while L’Esperance’s was her eighth.

In all, the Wildcats defense allowed just two shots on goal while the offense finished with seven shots. In all shots, NMU also held a 13-7 edge.

Northern heads back toward the Upper Peninsula, stopping at Minnesota-Duluth for a 2 p.m. EDT game Saturday. The Bulldogs defeated Michigan Tech 2-1 on Thursday,

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.