Local Sports

Wildcat women’s soccer opens season at home today

MARQUETTE -- The women's soccer team at Northern Michigan University opens its season at home this afternoon, following it up with another home game on Sunday.

These Wildcats will then be gone from the NMU Soccer Field for nearly two weeks before returning to play there on Friday, Sept. 11, to open play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Today's opener at 3 p.m. is against St. Cloud State of Minnesota, the No. 16 ranked team in NCAA Division II. Following it will be an encounter against another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opponent, Minnesota-Duluth, at the NMU Soccer Field at noon Sunday.

Each match will be live-streamed on FloCollege, online at go.flocollege.com/teams/gliac-northern-michigan?sp=conf-partner-k7p2, and fans can also follow along by going to the NMU athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and looking under the women's soccer schedule for links to live video, live statistics and a preview.

Fans can also follow the official NMU women's soccer social media channels to stay up to date with match day coverage.

"I was very pleased (with our preseason)," Northern head coach Erin Egolf said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the games.

NMU had a condensed preseason with three games in six days, capped off with a 3-1 win over Wisconsin-Stevens Point at home on Monday.

"Everyone that was healthy got in to all three games, and it was really healthy for us to see where our team was," Egolf said. "We have a really good idea of what our team is going to look like going into a real game (today), but we have a lot of competition within our team, which is great.

"We're in a good position to take on a really tough nonconference schedule."

Today's opponent, St. Cloud State, has a new coach with Maggie Sherman named in February. Last year, the Huskies tied for second in the NSIC and reached the league tournament championship game while winning twice in the Division II national tournament before bowing out in the Sweet 16.

Senior Linsey Trapino leads SCSU after scoring eight goals and six assists for 22 points in 24 games a year ago.

Northern played St. Cloud to a 1-1 draw in Marquette in the 2025 season opener, Isabella Lorens scoring for the Wildcats to tie it and Lily Senese getting the assist. Jillian Thompson made five saves in the NMU net.

Northern is 6-5-1 vs. the Huskies all-time, including 6-1 in their last seven meetings.

"What's different about St. Cloud is they have a new coach," Egolf said. "(Sherman) stepped in pretty late in the spring, so there is a lot of unknown about them, and we need to be ready to adapt.

"We know St. Cloud went to the Sweet 16 last year, we know they're going to be a good team, we know they're going to compete heavily, and we have to be prepared for that."

Duluth was a modest 6-8-4 overall and 5-7-3 in the NSIC last year, missing its tourney by two points.

Head coach Greg Cane, in his 35th year, said "this year's team is very hungry after missing out on the playoffs last year.... Their effort and commitment to improve has been very noticeable in the off-season."

Forward-midfielder Jessica Eischens and defender Kailey Tomzak were chosen as Bulldogs' players to watch in the preseason.

NMU and UMD played to a 0-0 tie in last year's second game, as Northern is 6-8-3 vs. Duluth dating back to 2008, including wins in each of their last five games vs. UMD. Thompson posted a shutout in last year's scoreless tie.

"We're well aware that both of these games could have a major impact in the course of the entirety of our season," Egolf said. "Whatever last-minute tuneups that we need to make, we'll be making this week.... It's making sure we put on a good performance on (today) so that we can roll that into Sunday."

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.