Northern Michigan University’s Josie Lakosky, left, makes a move to get around Concordia-St. Paul’s Anna Palony during their GLIAC women’s lacrosse game played at the Superior Dome in Marquette on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — In the end, the Northern Michigan University women’s lacrosse team couldn’t catch the team it played on Senior Day in the standings.

But it also didn’t make a whole lot of difference as the Wildcats captured the coveted No. 3 position in the GLIAC after the season ended on Saturday afternoon at the Superior Dome.

NMU defeated the closest team above it in the standings, Concordia-St. Paul, 8-7 to end the season and finish at 4-4 in the conference and 10-7 overall.

That wasn’t enough to catch the Golden Bears, who finished at 5-3 and 9-7. But for the upcoming GLIAC Tournament, with all the games to be played at a single site, all it did was create another matchup between No. 2 seeded C-SP and No. 3 Northern.

With four teams making the tourney, both avoided a semifinal clash against conference champ and nationally ranked Grand Valley State at the Lakers’ field in Allendale on Friday. A game time has yet to be established.

Instead, GVSU will face No. 4 Davenport in one semi with NMU and Concordia-St. Paul in the other. Conference fifth-place Saginaw Valley State, which didn’t win a conference nor nonconference game all season in its first year as a varsity sport, missed the tourney.

In all likelihood, NMU will have to beat the 13-3 Lakers in the GLIAC tourney championship game on Sunday back in Allendale to win the tourney title.

One extra perk the Wildcats did earn Saturday was a sweep of GLIAC weekly awards after sophomore forward Josie Lakosky earned GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week and sophomore defender Sophie Langsdale was honored as GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week.

It was Lakosky’s fourth conference player of the week award just this season alone, each of them on offense, and the Wildcats’ sixth overall weekly award. It was also the second time NMU took both awards, matching the Feb. 17 sweep by Lakosky and Norah Bates.

This time around, Lakosky was cited for her three-goal hat trick, two ground balls and two caused turnovers, only the second time she put together that collection of statistics in her collegiate career.

The Victoria, Minnesota, native started her 35th consecutive game on this day after she had been GLIAC Freshman of the Year one season ago.

Langsdale, a Rochester, Minnesota, product, earned her first GLIAC weekly honor, posting a career-high four caused turnovers — the most by any Northern player all season — and a pair of ground balls.

For a player who appeared in just six games as a freshman, Langsdale has come on to play in all 17 NMU contests this winter and spring, including starting eight of the last nine games.

She is one of three Wildcats with at least 17 ground balls and at least 10 caused turnovers this season.

All of this came after NMU fell behind in the final second of the first half and for nearly all the third quarter before Lakosky scored a pair of goals 16 seconds apart early in the fourth to re-establish Northern’s lead.

However, it took Emily Radke scoring a goal with 7:02 left to break a 7-7 tie, then a critical save by Northern goalkeeper Lauren Esposito in the game’s final 30 seconds to preserve its last lead.

Esposito finished with five saves while allowing seven goals, but none of her saves was bigger than when C-SP had an open look at the goal with time ticking down before Esposito was able to block the shot and preserve the one-goal victory.

Nobody at the game would’ve guessed that Radke’s goal just past the midpoint of the final quarter would be the game’s last, considering that barely more than three minutes before the final score, the two combatants combined to score four times in 74 seconds.

Two of those were Lakosky’s quick-strike markers, but they were answered by the Golden Bears’ Anna Fisher and Sara Kaiser scoring immediately after to retie it.

Lakosky led all players in goals and also with her eight total shots and five shots on goal.

As a team, NMU held a 23-19 overall shots advantage and 15-10 in shots on goal, even as the teams tied 22-22 in ground balls and C-SP had a 13-5 edge in draw controls.

Radke, Katelyn Wozney, Laine Stanton, Taylor Priestley and Abby Sisson scored single goals for NMU as Wozney was the only Wildcat with two draw controls while Esposito had four ground balls. Camryn Mayer had Northern’s lone assist.

NMU opened the scoring just over 2 1/2 minutes into the game on a goal by Priestley, while Lakosky made it 2-1 near the first quarter’s midpoint.

Still that score to open the next period, Northern twice took a one-goal lead only to have C-SP tie it back up in the second.

The Bears’ Shelby Hansen scored with one second left in the first half to give the visitors their first lead, 4-3. Teammate Morgan Haapala made it 5-3 less than a minute into the second half before four straight goals by the Wildcats gave them the lead back. The first two came in the third from Wozney on a free-position shot and by Sisson, the second two were Lakosky’s pair 16 seconds apart early in the fourth.

The seven NMU seniors honored on Senior Day were Mayer, Priestley, Bates, Maddi Bast, Dayna Carlson, Peyton Smith and Olivia Rose.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases about the team and its honors. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.