MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Wildcats take on both Saginaw Valley State University and Purdue University Northwest in another split weekend starting on Friday.
The Friday match is at home against SVSU at 12 p.m. The 'Cats then travel to Purdue Northwest on Saturday for another 12 p.m. match.
WEEKLY NOTES:
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the action using live stats and video.
Follow @NMU_Wildcats on Twitter for continued coverage throughout the week.
Friday VS. Saginaw Valley
Live Stats:
https://nmuwildcats.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
Video:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/nmu/
Sunday VS. Purdue Northwest
Live Stats:
https://pnwathletics.com/sidearmstats/Wsoc/summary
Video:
https://www.jedtv.com/pnw-athletics.html
PRESEASON POLL
The Wildcats, coming off a GLIAC Championship match appearance, came in third in the GLIAC Preseason Poll. They notched 49 points and finished five points ahead of Michigan Tech.
KEY RETURNERS
Senior
Caroline Halonen, the 2021 GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year and All-GLIAC First Team honoree, returns to the Wildcats attack. Last season the midfielder was ranked in the top ten in NCAA Division II in several statistic categories. She was second in NCAA Division II in goals (11), fourth in total points (23), and seventh in goals per game (.92).
Sophomore
Brooke Pietila is also back for NMU after a season that earned her All-GLIAC Honorable Mention honors.
Goalkeeper
Shenae Kreps returns to the goal for her senior season. Kreps was in net for all eight Wildcat wins and had 27 saves and a .643 save percentage in her first season in Marquette.
STAT LEADERS
After the past week of GLIAC play, Northern still has two players on the conference leaderboards.
Senior keeper
Shenae Kreps continues to impress and is currently third in the GLIAC for saves with a total of 58 thus far.
Another Wildcat that has now led the GLIAC for three weeks in shots on goal with 54, senior
Caroline Halonen holds her spot at the top after this last week of conference play.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats had two big matches this past weekend. Starting on Friday, NMU played hard in the cold against Northwood.
Justina L'Esperance, Alexa Dekam, and
Isabela Cardoso all scored goals in Friday's 3-0 win.
Senior goalkeeper
Shenae Kreps was in the net for all 90 minutes of the game and stopped all 7 shots from the Timberwolves.
After the big win, the 'Cats traveled to Kenosha, Wis. Saturday to take on the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, where they tied the Rangers 1-1 despite being down a player for all but two minutes of the match.
Brooke Pietila scored the tying goal in the 86th minute of the match which took the game to overtime.
After two non-scoring overtimes, the match final was 1-1.
NMU VS SAGINAW VALLEY
The Wildcats traveled to the Cardinals' pitch earlier this year where they defeated them 2-1. NMU hopes to win again over SVSU, this time on its home field.
The 'Cats are 16-12-2 all-time versus the Cardinals.
NMU VS PURDUE NORTHWEST
NMU won against Purdue Northwest two weeks ago, earning their largest win over an NCAA Division II team since 2009 with a score of 8-0.
The Wildcats hold a 6-1 advantage over the Pride all-time.
