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Tough way to open: Wildcat women host top 2 teams to start GLIAC campaign

Wildcat women host top 2 teams to start GLIAC campaign

By Steve Brownlee 5 min read

MARQUETTE -- Now comes the conference gauntlet for the undefeated women's soccer team at Northern Michigan University.

The Wildcats begin a string of 14 straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games this afternoon when nationally ranked Grand Valley State comes to the NMU Soccer Field for a 3 p.m. contest.

The Lakers are ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the Midwest Region. Don't think it's a fluke -- except for 2023 and 2024, when NMU swept GLIAC regular season and tournament titles, GVSU has won one or the other of those titles every year since 2005.

Usually, it's been both, like last fall, when the Lakers posted a 13-1 league regular season to win in a runaway, then blew through three tourney games without giving up a goal to take that title, too. That Grand Valley postseason run included a 4-0 win over Northern in the semifinals.

GVSU, which finished 19-2-1 overall, reached the NCAA Division II tournament before bowing out in its opener on penalty kicks to Cedarville.

The Lakers are 2-1-1 so far this season, tying 1-1 at No. 22 Ashland and losing 1-0 at No. 16 Minnesota State-Mankato. They also exacted revenge on Cedarville from last fall's NCAAs, winning that matchup 3-1 in Allendale.

The Wildcats finish their home weekend to open the GLIAC season by facing Saginaw Valley State (2-2) at noon Sunday. The Cardinals tied Wisconsin-Parkside for second place in the 2025 regular season with a 9-4-1 league mark, with Northern fifth at 6-6-2.

Grand Valley and Saginaw Valley were ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the same order as last year in this summer's GLIAC preseason poll.

NMU has opened the current campaign with a 3-0-1 nonconference record, which includes an opening 3-2 home win over No. 16 St. Cloud State on Aug. 28. There's also been a 2-1 win over Minnesota-Duluth at home on Aug. 30, a 0-0 tie at Cedarville on Sept. 3, and a 3-1 win over Northwood in neutral-site Ohio last Saturday.

That's been good enough to move Northern up to No. 22 in this week's national poll conducted jointly by the Intercollegiate Women's Soccer Organization for Coaches and also the United Soccer Coaches.

In those listings, GVSU is the only other GLIAC team ranked or even receiving votes.

NMU, also ranked No. 3 in the Midwest Region, is second in winning percentage in the region at .875, tied for fifth with eight assists, and 10th in points with 23.

Northern senior Isabella Lorens, a Marquette Senior High School graduate, is tied for second in the Midwest with 0.75 assists per game, and tied for fifth in points with seven as she's scored two goals.

Three other Wildcats also have a goal and an assist already -- Alyse Daavettila, Lily Senese and Cecilia Wille -- with three more scoring a goal, Sole Corley, Addison Frantti and Izzy Armstrong; and two others with an assist, Madison Bilbia and Irene Kiilunen.

Carly Sides has spent every minute in goal, while Kiilunen and Riley Hill have also been on the pitch for all 360 minutes so far.

"I think we're again in a good place right now in terms of our performance and effort, and as we get deeper into our schedule, I think we're finding that some of those small qualities and details are getting ironed out," Northern head coach Erin Egolf said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing this weekend. "We've got to take everything into these next two games, and I'm excited for our team to compete against both of these squads.

"It'll be a real test for us. We get to protect our home turf and start (the) conference as best we possibly can."

Grand Valley returns GLIAC First Team performers in forward Sarah Fromm, midfielder Sonya Mehta and defender Acadia Murphy. Mehta leads the Lakers with two goals, joining junior defender Vesna Dennison with that number.

The Lakers are good at generating offense, witnessed by their leading the region and seventh in the country in shots per game with 21.5, and second in the region in shots on goal per game with 9.50.

"There’s a lot to (Grand Valley) that we're going to have to manage, and so we've got to be up for it," Egolf said. "We've had a good week so far in terms of recovery and player management, which is good because I think it's going to take a lot of different people doing their job."

She hopes that will carry over to Sunday's encounter with SVSU.

"We know a little bit about Saginaw, having some common opponents in our nonconference schedule, but honestly, we've got to give everything we have to preparing for Grand Valley and making sure our girls are in the right place to compete in that game.

"Once that game's over, we'll be able to reset and get ready for Saginaw. It is a really quick turnaround."

The Cardinals have scored 10 goals in four games, compared to eight for the Wildcats, giving SVSU the third-best scoring offense and third-most goals in the region. The Cardinals average 19.75 shots per game, only behind GVSU in the region.

"Saginaw has had a really nice start to their season as well; they're a very exciting team, very forward-oriented team," Egolf said. "These two games back to back are going to be a really important start to our conference."

SVSU's common opponent with NMU is Northwood, who the Cardinals defeated 4-1 in Midland on Aug. 30 compared to the Wildcats' 3-1 victory last weekend in Ohio.

After this weekend, Northern hits the road for five straight games, not returning home until playing Purdue Northwest at 3 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 9.

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

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