GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Northern Michigan University Lacrosse team continued Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play Saturday by taking on Davenport University. 

Freshman Emily Dvorak (Oconomowoc, Wis./Arrowhead) led the Wildcats with four goals.  Freshman Tess Kostelec (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) added two goals and also notched two assists to tally four points. 

Freshman Bianca Kinder (Haslett, Mich.) and sophomore Graison Ringlever (Mattawan, Mich.) added two goals each with Kinder also getting an assist.

Junior Tori Aidif (Grandville, Mich.) tied Dvorak with the team's lead in ground balls, and freshman Shannon Walus (Brighton, Mich.) finished the day with two caused turnovers. 

Senior Brianna Bangle (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) posted a season-best 16 saves in the effort.

In the game, DU scored first, but Kostelec found Kinder for a goal to tie the game at the 20:26 mark, then scored on a free position shot a minute later to give NMU a 2-1 lead. 

After the Panthers tied it at 2-2, Dvorak scored back to back goals to put the Wildcats ahead 4-2 with 14:40 to go in the half.  She then scored a third goal to answer two DU goals. 

Davenport responded with three goals and moved ahead 7-5 with 5:40 to go.  Dvorak found the net again with 3:13 remaining in the first half, but DU scored once more before time ran out to give the Panthers an 8-6 lead at halftime. 

The hosts added two goals to open the second half, before Angelica Bogden (Clarkston, Mich./Lakeland) scored on a pass from Kostelec to make it 10-7 less than six minutes into the final half.  After another DU goal, Ringlever scored on a free position shot, moving the score to 11-8 with 15:22 to play. 

The Panthers responded with two more goals but NMU answered with two free position goals, the first from Ringlever and the second from Kinder.  Davenport posted two additional goals, but despite Kinder finding Kostelec with 3:33 to play, the Panthers closed the game with two more goals to take the 17-11 victory.

With the defeat, NMU falls to 1-6 on the season, 0-4 in the GLIAC, while DU improved to 3-5 and 1-3 in the league.  The Wildcats will look to bounce back Wednesday by hosting Concordia University, St. Paul.