UNIVERSITY CENTER — The women’s soccer team at Northern Michigan University was unable to climb up and catch Saginaw Valley State in the conference standings on Friday afternoon.

Instead, the Cardinals dominated for a 4-0 victory over the visiting Wildcats to more firmly keep hold of third place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

NMU slipped to 3-4-1 in the league and 3-5-4 overall, good for fifth place in the nine-team conference. SVSU improved to 5-2-1 and 7-3-2.

While the home team held a significant 17-10 advantage in total shots, the Cardinals’ 10-1 edge in shots on goal hardly gave the Wildcats a chance. That was even with Northern getting six of the game’s 10 corner kicks as NMU was whistled for just one more foul, 6-5. The only yellow card was also shown to the Wildcats.

Northern was able to apply some early offensive pressure, earning a corner kick just over three minutes in.

SVSU answered with a wide shot a few minutes later, then NMU’s Madison Bilbia drove in a shot that Saginaw goaltender Lainey Garbarz was forced to save.

After that, the Cardinals were able to reapply the pressure, forcing Northern netminder Jillian Thompson into saves while also creating some corner kick opportunities.

Thompson finished with six saves as Garbarz had just one.

There were several more NMU attempts at scoring in the first half, one scooped away by Garbarz and another that missed when Northern’s Alyse Daavettila had a header attempt narrowly miss the post.

Then in the 29th minute, SVSU got on the scoreboard. The Cards’ Abby Ellis popped the ball nearly straight up in the air after crossing into the Wildcats’ box, with the ball landing just behind Thompson as it slipped in.

The score remained 1-0 at halftime, thanks to a Thompson heads-up save, though the Cardinals got the balance of their goals in the first 20 minutes after intermission.

About 5 1/2 minutes into the second half, SVSU forced an NMU turnover near midfield, driving the ball quickly to Laureyn Fracassi. Her initial shot was fended off by Thompson, but Fracassi struck paydirt on the rebound.

Another 5 1/2 minutes later, the Cardinals had a counterattack with Kaley Douglass firing the ball to teammate Madi Bajis, who secured her team’s third goal.

Then early in the 63rd minute, Saginaw’s Rileigh Garbarz netted the final goal, just a few minutes after Northern’s Irene Kiilunen made a header attempt just wide following a corner kick.

Following a game at last-place Davenport on Sunday, the Wildcats have two tough games this week, playing in Allendale at second-place Grand Valley State at 5 p.m. Friday, then heading a short ways north to Big Rapids to take on fourth-place Ferris State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

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.