Wildcats women soccer season ends in GLIAC tourney
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UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The season ended for the women's soccer team at Northern Michigan University with a 2-1 loss at Saginaw Valley State in the conference tournament first-round quarterfinals on Tuesday afternoon.
The Wildcats, seeded sixth after the regular season in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, traveled to the Cardinals' field located between Bay City and Saginaw with SVSU having earned the No. 3 seed.
NMU ends its season at 8-6-5 overall and having gone .500 in the GLIAC at 5-5-4. Saginaw Valley (11-6-2, 8-4-2 GLIAC) advances to the tourney semifinals to be played Friday at No. 2 Grand Valley State in Allendale after No. 1 Wayne State was upset by No. 8 Ferris State 1-0 on Tuesday.
Northern fell behind 2-0 before the fourth goal of the season by Lily Senese pulled the Wildcats within a single shot of tying it.
The Cardinals' Kylie Cesarek scored her fifth of the campaign in the 17th minute. While it was the only goal of the first half, SVSU held a huge 11-0 advantage in total shots, including 3-0 in shots on goal, in the opening 45 minutes.
NMU made a much better game of its in the second half, getting outshot only 10-7 in total shots and 2-1 in shots on goal.
Nevertheless, the Cardinals made it 2-0 in the 57th minute on the season's first goal by Ryleigh Gray as Emily Kolodin picked up her second assist of the day.
Northern got one back less than nine minutes later with 24:47 remaining on a Senese's shot. She finished off a slick passing play that started with Ema Delgado and Cecilia White, both credited with assists, according to a game report from NMU Sports Information.
After that, the Wildcats outshot their hosts 3-1 in the final 10 minutes, including a near miss by Senese with around three minutes to go, according to NMU SI.
For the game, SVSU held a 21-7 edge in total shots and 4-2 in shots on goal, also taking three of the game's four corner kicks. The Cardinals were also whistled for more fouls, 8-6, with no yellow cards shown.
Northern's other shot on goal was taken by Madison Bilbia, who also joined Senese in taking three total shots, the other shot taken by Sole Corley.
NMU goalkeeper Carly Sides made two saves in her final contest of the season.
Story contents based on a Northern Michigan University Sports Information press release reviewing the game
Northern Michigan University's Irene Kiilunen, second from left, works the ball past a pair of Saginaw Valley State defenders, at right, during their women's soccer game in the GLIAC Tournament quarterfinals at University Center on Tuesday. (Photo courtesy NMU)