The Wildcats improved to 4-0 in the conference and 7-0-1 overall after defeating Ferris State 3-1 and Saginaw Valley State 4-1.

NMU travels to Allendale to take on Grand Valley State at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lakers are 3-0-1 in the GLIAC, just a half-game behind the Wildcats, while also posting a 5-1-2 overall mark. Northern continues the road trip with a noon Sunday date in Grand Rapids against Davenport, which is in third at 2-1-1, 3-3-2 overall.

Here is a rundown of last weekend’s action:

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Teammates hug Northern Michigan University's Molly Pistorius, center facing away, after she scored early in their college soccer game played against Saginaw Valley State at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

NMU 3, Ferris State 1

On Friday at the NMU Soccer Field, the teams traded early goals before the Wildcats put their stamp on the game near the midpoint of the second half.

Barely a minute — 1:08 to be exact — into the game, Northern sophomore

Justina L’Esperance opened the scoring with her sixth goal of the season after teammate Brenna Musser sent her a crosser and L’Esperance outran the Bulldogs’ defense.

L’Esperance has now scored a GLIAC-leading six goals with one coming in six of what at this point was the Wildcats’ seventh game of the season.

But Ferris would tie the score about 6 1/2 minutes later on the first goal this season by Katie Nestico and assisted by Isabella Zamborini. Nestico placed a kick between NMU goalkeeper Shenae Kreps and the crossbar.

Northern Michigan University's Maria Storm, back center with the ball coming off her head, knocks the ball away from the Wildcats' goal while NMU goalkeeper Shenae Kreps, mostly hidden in red jersey, is screened after a Saginaw Valley State attempt to score in the second half of their college soccer game played at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

While Kreps came out of the net to stop a Bulldogs’ opportunity in the 32nd minute, the score remained 1-1 at halftime and nearly 15 minutes into the second half. Early in the second half, Northern’s Brooke Pietila fired one on net on a free kick while the Wildcats had several corner kicks.

But NMU broke through in the 59th minute when Maria Storm snuck the ball between the Ferris goalkeeper’s legs as Pietila got the assist.

“We went into the second half knowing that we needed to score the next goal if we wanted to come out on top,” Storm said in an NMU Sports Information news release. “Everyone knew it was going to be a battle, but everyone came to play and it was a great team win.”

Pietila added her own insurance to the goal she assisted on not quite three minutes later. Teammate Stephanie Trujillo sent a perfect pass to Pietila, who headed it into the top corner of the net for her fifth goal this season.

“We came out ready and focused on what we needed to do,” Pietila said.

NMU finished with a 14-7 edge in total shots, including 10-4 in shots on goal, and also had the advantage in corner kicks 8-5.

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NMU 4, Saginaw Valley State 1

On Sunday at the NMU Soccer Field, the Wildcats again scored early but didn’t let the Cardinals play catchup until it was too late.

Northern’s Molly Pistorius scored her fourth of the season in the ninth minute after Storm sailed an arcing pass over a pair of defenders, according to an account from NMU SI. Pistorius met the ball just outside of the box and snuck it low and left of the diving SVSU goalkeeper.

“It was a strong effort … against Saginaw,” Pistorius said in an NMU SI release. “We pushed through to the very end and came out with a win and a great six-point weekend.”

GLIAC wins are worth three points, as they are at many levels of soccer, with ties counting as a single point.

“We came into this weekend knowing we needed six points,” Storm said. “We did what we needed to do as a team to get the job done. Now it’s time to shift our focus to Friday.”

Kreps kept the score 1-0 when just over 10 minutes later she made a leaping stop on the Cards’ Amy Babon, who had a nice opportunity without a defender nearby.

Late in the first half in the 41st minute, the Wildcats’ Isabelle Brusilow had a nice look before the ball curved left just wide of the net.

But within two minutes — and 1:56 before the half ended — Storm glided the ball into the net off a pass from Evelyn Flor, who booted a loose ball across the box.

NMU held a 5-3 edge in total shots in the first half and 3-2 advantage in shots on goal while also taking all four corner kicks before halftime.

Then with a 2-0 lead, SVSU was thwarted without a quality shot on goal early in the second half despite several prime opportunities.

In the 57th minute, Pistorius sent a crosser to Pietila, who let the ball hop once in front of her before lobbing a perfect kick over the goalkeeper into the far corner of the net.

About 4 1/2 minutes later, the Cards scored their only goal from Stephanie Strong as Carlee Davis and Babon assisted.

But while SVSU applied some pressure, Northern defender Rachael Erste came up big in the 68th minute, acting as stop-gap goalkeeper as she deflected a shot away.

Northern eventually added some insurance for the final three-goal margin in the 86th minute when Musser scored her third of the season assisted by Pistorius.

Pistorius finished with a goal and two assists as her team won the statistical battle — total shots 11-6, shots on goal 7-4 and corner kicks 6-1.

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

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