MARQUETTE, Mich. – Northern Michigan University Lacrosse opened their Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule with Davenport University but fell to the Panthers 20-10.

STAT LEADERS

Freshman Aleya Speas (Castle Rock, Colo.) led the way with five points on the night, scoring three goals and adding two assists. Junior Graison Ringlever (Mattawan, Mich.) also posted three goals and finished with a team-best four ground balls and three draw controls.

Freshman Emily Renfrew (Okemos, Mich.) chipped into the effort with two goals and an assist. Sophomore Ellie Bahr (Crystal, Minn.) and freshman Jessica Daniels (Brighton, Mich.) notched a goal each. Sophomore Tess Kostelec (Columbia, Md.) posted an assist. Renfrew also had two draw controls.

Kostelec and sophomore Shannon Walus (Brighton, Mich.) tallied three ground balls with Speas finishing with two.

Defensively, Walus led the way with two caused turnovers.

In goal, freshman Cam Stilson (Brighton, Mich.) tallied 16 saves.

THE FIRST HALF

Davenport scored the first goal of the night, but Speas and Bahr answered to put NMU up 2-1 with 22 minutes left in the game. 

The Panthers responded with two goals but Daniels tied the game at 3-3 at the 17:50 mark. DU replied with two more goals before Kostelec found Speas at 15:25 to make it 5-4.

DU countered with two more goals until Renfrew scored to narrow the Panther lead to 7-5 with 10 minutes to go in the half. After another Panther goal, Ringlever found the net with five minutes remaining, but Davenport managed to add one more goal before the end of the half to take a 9-6 lead heading into halftime.

THE SECOND HALF

To open the second half, DU scored again but Speas answered five minutes in. The Panthers managed another score but Renfrew replied with a free position goal to make the score 11-8.

However, Davenport responded with five straight goals before Ringlever scored with 8:29 to play, making the DU lead 16-9. Ringlever scored again after another Panther goal at the 4:07 mark, but the guests closed the game with three more goals to win 20-10.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats return to action Sunday as they host #20 Grand Valley State University in the Superior Dome Sunday at noon.