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

KENOSHA, Wis. — The women’s soccer team at Northern Michigan University finished with a split of its first road trip of the season, losing 2-1 at Wisconsin-Parkside on Sunday.

Combined with Friday’s 4-2 victory in Chicago against Roosevelt, the Wildcats are 1-2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Parkside improved to 1-3-2 and 1-0-1.

NMU’s lone goal Sunday came from Kenna Alexander, when she tied the game in the 27th minute on a penalty kick. This was Northern’s first penalty kick attempted in almost three seasons, dating back to Oct. 16, 2022, and first penalty shot goal converted since about a month earlier in September of that year.

Despite Sunday’s fairly low score, there was offense galore, with the Rangers holding a 22-16 edge in total shots as each team had 10 shots on goal.

Wildcats redshirt freshman goalkeeper Carly Sides got her first career start and made eight saves, marking the most saves for an NMU keeper since Ava Wilberding stopped the same number in a scoreless draw against Ferris State in October 2022.

Fellow netminder Tristen Cross of Parkside had nine stops.

Each team had four corner kicks, while the Rangers were called for twice as many fouls, 8-4, and the game’s only yellow card on Cross at the time of NMU’s goal.

The outcome snapped Parkside’s 10-game winless streak against Northern dating back to a Rangers’ 1-0 win in November 2019.

The day’s heat prompted both coaches to make liberal substitutions as only three players on each team played all 90 minutes, including Sides and teammates Irene Kiilunen and Addison Wargo.

Madison Bilbia led NMU in shots with three, while she and teammate Addison Frantti each had two shots on goal.

The game opened with Northern applying offensive pressure, according to a game account from NMU Sports Information, generating several scoring chances in the first 10 minutes.

That included a left-footed strike from Madalyn Nissen inside the box that curled by the near post, and not long after when Bilbia played a ball into the box that Cross came out to cover, but was unable to handle cleanly, causing a scramble close in that almost led to a goal.

Sides made two great plays to disrupt crosses before making a sliding save in her first action, coming off her line to punch away a corner kick, followed by a cross from the other side of the box, then making a save from in tight by the Rangers’ Uda Kimba.

Nevertheless, Parkside scored the first goal just over 17 minutes in when Ava Rizzitano played a left-footed cross from the far side that landed in the box to find a wide-open Kayden Schmidt. The latter took a right-footed strike, curling the ball into the bottom-left corner, according to NMU SI.

Northern didn’t take long to respond, though it would be almost 10 minutes before it punched in the equalizer. Bilbia beat her defender on the left side of the box and drove toward the near side post. Bilbia, one on one with the keeper, hit a left-footed ball toward the far side post before Cross dove for the save.

The Wildcats were inches from scoring when a perfectly placed ball found Olivia Moreno alone just outside the goalkeeper’s area. Moreno played a perfect header toward the goal that beat Cross but rang off the crossbar.

Then NMU finally pulled even. Late in the 27th minute, Bilbia played a perfect through-ball to Moreno, who beat her defender and found herself one-on-one with Cross coming off her line to foul the Wildcat attacker.

That not only drew a yellow card, but a penalty kick, and Alexander stepped up and hit a right-footed strike to tie it.

Marquette Senior High School graduate Isabella Lorens, a junior forward, made a spectacular individual effort to steal the ball from a Parkside defender and had a clean breakaway against Cross with three minutes to play in the first half.

Lorens got into the box and let go a right-footed strike that found the hands of Cross as the score remained tied at halftime.

NMU got another great scoring opportunity early in the second half, a cross played to Bilbia for a hard header from just inside the box before Cross moved laterally for the save. And a few minutes later, Nissen took a right-footed shot toward the left post that narrowly missed.

Parkside found the game winner in the 56th minute, not much more than 10 minutes into the second half, when Lindsay Dahlinger spun around and struck a shot into the upper right corner of the net past an outstretched Sides.

The Northern netminder kept her team in it with just under seven minutes left when Rizzitano was alone with Sides after receiving a through ball, cutting down the angle well and stopping the shot.

And in the last-gasp final minute, NMU’s Hannah Kastamo worked into the box to earn a corner kick. Alexander delivered a decent chance, but a Ranger defender cleared it away.

The Wildcats return home for two games during the next week, the first a real challenge against traditional GLIAC power Grand Valley State at 1 p.m. Friday at the NMU Soccer Field. That will be followed by a date against Davenport at noon Sunday.

Until 2023, when Northern swept the regular-season and tournament championships, Grand Valley had won at least one of those titles each year dating back to 2005.

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