Northern Michigan University’s Emily Radke, right, scores on this shot during a GLIAC women’s lacrosse game played against Saginaw Valley State at the Superior Dome in Marquette last Friday. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)

MARQUETTE — It could be an interesting weekend for the lacrosse team at Northern Michigan University, starting with this afternoon’s matchup vs. Grand Valley State at the Lakers’ home field in Allendale.

The Wildcats face GVSU at 5 p.m. today, then makes the short jaunt to Grand Rapids to face Davenport at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Grand Valley has been the big bugaboo not only for NMU, but the entire Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in this sport.

That because the Lakers have won or shared the conference title in all 12 years the conference has offered the sport, also winning nine of the dozen league tournament championships, too.

But this year, Grand Valley has started with a quite uncharacteristic 1-7 record, only winning its most recent match, a 9-6 victory at Missouri Western State.

Six of the Lakers’ seven losses have come to nationally ranked teams, all ranked between No. 3 and No. 21, the highest ranked being vs. No. 3 Indianapolis 16-12 on March 6.

In contrast, NMU was also supposed to play at Indianapolis on March 15, but the game was postponed due to last week’s incoming storm to the Upper Peninsula. It will now be made up at noon EDT on Tuesday, April 21, in central Indiana.

Northern is a pretty solid 7-2, its only game vs. a ranked opponent a 14-6 loss at No. 17 Regis in Denver on March 5, which was the third game in four days in the rarefied air of the Rocky Mountain foothills.

NMU has never defeated Grand Valley in this, the 10th season of a varsity program in Marquette. But twice the Wildcats have lost by a single goal to the Lakers under head coach Lindsey (LeMay) Majkrzak, falling 12-11 in overtime in Marquette last year and 11-10 in the GLIAC Tournament finals in Allendale in 2023.

Davenport, meanwhile, is 6-3 and won its GLIAC opener, just like the Wildcats. DU dropped Saginaw Valley State 17-6 on the road on Tuesday, four days after NMU bludgeoned the same Cardinals team 23-1 in the Superior Dome.

Davenport, Northern and Concordia-St. Paul, which also downed SVSU 17-6 in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday, are all tied atop the league at 1-0, while Grand Valley hasn’t started its conference season yet.

The logjam at the top could be somewhat cleared by Sunday, since Davenport hosts Concordia-St. Paul today, too.

DU and Northern have similar game styles. With each having played nine games, Davenport has scored five more goals than NMU and allowed 16 more. The two teams rank Nos. 1 and 2 in both team scoring offense and defense in the five-team league.

While the Panthers hold a 9-6 overall edge vs. NMU in their 15 meetings, the Wildcats have won five of their past six. But then again, in their last meeting, DU prevailed 11-9 over Northern in Grand Rapids last April 13.

Both of the Wildcats’ games this weekend are available to stream online at Flo Live, while fans can also check on the Northern athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women’s lacrosse schedule for links to live video, live statistics and a preview.

NMU is a hot team right now coming off the 22-goal victory over Saginaw Valley, admittedly a weaker team as this is only its second year as a GLIAC program.

After that game, Northern junior attacker Josie Lakosky was named GLIAC Attacker of the Week as she put in eight goals and three assists for 11 points. She wasn’t just prolific, but efficient, only taking nine total shots, with eight on target as shots on goal and all eight scoring.

Lakosky now leads all of NCAA Division II with 5.22 goals per game, which in the conference is exactly two more goals per game than any other player. She also leads the nation with 65 points and 7.22 points per game, while her 47 goals is just one behind D-II leader Madison Primeau of Lees-McRae.

Lakosky is also No. 1 nationally with 9.11 shots on goal per game and No. 2 with 10.33 total shots per contest.

Looking at Northern’s stats, while Lakosky’s 47 goals, 18 assists and 65 points are far and away tops on the team, Avery Lorinser is second in goals with 18.

Hannah Jabas is second in assists with nine and second in points with 24, as both Jabas and Vanessa Carrico have 15 goals.

Lakosky is also the No. 1 NMU player with 18 caused turnovers, with Natalie Thomas having 14 and Sophie Langsdale 10.

No. 1 in draw controls with 52 is Lakosky as Taylor Roberts has 32, and for ground balls, Lakosky is second on the team with 28 as Lauren Esposito has 31 even while missing a game.

The Wildcats return home for their final homestand of the season starting Saturday, April 4, with a GLIAC game vs. Concordia-St. Paul at noon in the dome.

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.