The Wildcats host national No. 3 Grand Valley State at 1 p.m. today before taking on winless Davenport at noon Sunday.

Despite its lofty national ranking, not to mention its No. 1 position in the Midwest Regional rankings, GVSU isn’t atop the early Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings as the Lakers have played just one league game, winning it 2-0 at Saginaw Valley State.

NMU is right behind Grand Valley with a 1-1 GLIAC mark to go with a 1-2-3 overall record.

Northern split its matches on the road last week, downing Roosevelt 4-2 and falling to Wisconsin-Parkside 2-1, under first-year head coach Erin Egolf.

Northern Michigan University’s Isabella Lorens, left, and Northwood's Reagan Brengman vie for the ball during their game played at the NMU Soccer Field in Marquette on Sept. 11. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

“For our (team), it’s about having the mentality that we are going to be in a dogfight, and that we want to make the game difficult for (our opponents),” Egolf said in an NMU Sports Information release previewing this weekend’s games. “We want to make teams have to battle us as hard as they can.”

Follow @NMU_wsoccer on Instagram and @NMU_wsoccer on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates leading up to and during games. Or visit the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s soccer schedule for links to live video, live statistics and game previews.

This weekend’s contests open a five-game homestand for the Wildcats, who already had the benefit of four nonconference home games in a row to start the season.

After this weekend, NMU hosts Ferris State at 1 p.m. next Friday, SVSU at noon on Sunday, Oct. 5, and Michigan Tech at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12.

Last week at Roosevelt, the Wildcats recorded their first win under Egolf with a second-half scoring explosion, knocking the ball into the net four times in a span of less than 20 minutes after the game had been scoreless for the first 60 minutes.

Four players scored their first goals of the season — Madison Bilbia, Alyse Daavettila, Addison Frantti and Marena Maceroni — and six in all had points when assists are added in.

Despite the barrage, the Wildcats conceded the game’s first goal barely a minute before starting its scoring attack, and only three NMU players were in the full 90 minutes because of excessive heat in Chicago.

Two days later in Kenosha, Wisconsin, against Parkside, Northern got its lone goal from Kenna Alexander on a penalty kick in the 27th minute that tied the game.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Carly Sides made eight saves in her first career start, the most by any NMU netminder in a game since 2022.

The five players who scored last week are among a half-dozen Wildcats with a goal this season, as Alexander, Frantti and Maceroni also have an assist for three points apiece.

Bilbia leads the GLIAC with 18 total shots and is tied for sixth with six shots on goal.

Grand Valley is 4-1 this season, its only loss 1-0 to then No. 3 (and now No. 2) Minnesota State-Mankato at home on Sept. 12. GVSU reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament last fall, getting eliminated on penalty kicks in a quarterfinal game.

Preseason No. 5 in the nation, the Lakers are led by Sarah Fromm with three goals, though none in the past three games. Instead, teammate Alli French has a pair of goals, one in each of GVSU’s past two games.

And the Lakers’ Cora Conley is tied for the league high with three assists.

Grand Valley holds advantages this season of 8-4 in goals, 79-28 in overall shots, 33-12 in shots on goal and 31-16 in corner kicks.

NMU is just 2-26-3 all-time vs. the Lakers, who won either the GLIAC regular season or tournament title — or both — every year from 2007-22. Northern’s only win ever in Allendale came in September 2010.

Davenport (0-4-2, 0-2 GLIAC) has scored three goals by three players in six games, while senior goalkeeper Bailey Gauthier has started each game and is third in the conference with 22 saves.

The Panthers have the fewest goals in the conference and conceded the third most.

Northern is 7-1-1 in its most recent games vs. DU, not having lost to the Panthers at home since October 2019.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release previewing the games. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.