MARQUETTE, Mich. - The no. 8 Northern Michigan University women's soccer team kicks it into high gear for a crucial semifinal match against Ferris State University on Friday. If the 'Cats win, they will advance to the GLIAC Championship.
The Wildcats roped in a plethora of GLIAC postseason awards, highlighted by
Molly Pistorius earning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year,
Maria Storm earning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year, and
Jon Sandoval earning GLIAC Coach of the Year.
Pistorius and Storm both earned respective All-GLIAC first-team honors for forward and defender, respectively, along with
Brooke Pietila earning first-team recognition in the midfield.
Stephanie Trujillo,
Isabelle Brusilow, and
Jillian Thompson earned Second Team All-GLIAC honors for midfielder, defender, and goalkeeper, respectively, and
Gwen Kiilunen earned an at-large honor for the second team.
Hannah Kastamo rounded out the awards for the 'Cats, earning an Honorable Mention
The 'Cats have remained nationally ranked for the ninth straight week, most in program history, coming in at no. 8 in the nation across D2 soccer, per
United Soccer Coaches. The number eight ranking is now the highest the 'Cats have been ranked in program history, surpassing the mark of 11 set earlier this season.
The Wildcats (14-1-4 overall, 9-1-4 GLIAC) will take on the Bulldogs (7-8-4 overall, 4-7-3 GLIAC) on Friday, November 10, at 2 p.m.
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Friday, November 10 - vs. Ferris State at 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats | Watch on FloFC
Hear From Jon Sandoval
"The best thing about [the upcoming match] is we get to be home again…we get to be in front of other NMU student-athletes, supporters, and the community."
A Look at Ferris State
In their two most recent matches, The Bulldogs outscored the Saginaw Valley Cardinals, with their last being through quarter-final play. Katherine Welch leads the Bulldogs in goals (8) and is T1 in the points department (17) alongside Payton Price. Ferris State's goalkeeper Darya Mosallaei stands with four shutouts and a total of 58 saves.
The Wildcats have won in both of their regular season matches against the Bulldogs, the first time they met was on 9/22/23 where they outscored the downstate team 2-1. Those Wildcat goals came from
Stephanie Trujillo and
Maria Storm, while the Bulldog goal was made by Maryn Rettenmund. The teams were recently matched up on 10/29/23 where the Wildcats earned a shutout win by
Hannah Kastamo with a score of 1-0.
The Wildcats are 3-0-1 against the Bulldogs in the last four meetings, out-scoring the opposition 6-2 in that frame. This marks the first time that these two teams will meet in the postseason since NMU beat the Bulldogs 4-3 in Marquette in the 2010 season. The Bulldogs also have recent post-season success, as they made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four last season, ultimately falling 2-1 to West Chester.
Cat Nips
- After earning GLIAC Freshman of the Year, Molly Pistorius was named 2023 GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year. Pistorius paced all GLIAC athletes in goals and points with 10 goals and 24 points in the regular season. Pistorius has started in all 19 matches for the 'Cats this season, recording 12 goals and four assists for 28 points with 1,254 minutes played.
- Maria Storm was honored as the 2023 GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year. A mainstay on the back line for the Wildcats, Maria Storm has been a quality defender for the Green and Gold and a major contributing factor to the defensive success throughout the season. A starter in all 19 matches for the 'Cats, Storm amassed 1,665 minutes of playing time, second-most on the outside of the goalkeeper, including recording 83+ minutes in 17 of 19 matches played with 87+ minutes in the final 13 straight matches.
- Jon Sandoval earned the GLIAC Coach of the Year award after guiding the 'Cats to a program-first GLIAC regular season title with a 14-1-4 overall record, surpassing his mark of 13 wins last season, and now the most wins in a season since 2006. The 'Cats 9-1-4 conference record is also the most conference wins since 2011 and it surpassed the eight-win mark he reached in both 2022 and 2021.
- Molly Pistorius, Brooke Pietila, and Maria Storm earned First-Team All-GLIAC honors
- Stephanie Trujillo, Isabelle Brusilow, Gwen Kiilunen, and Jillian Thompson earned Second-Team All-GLIAC honors
- Hannah Kastamo earned Honorable Mention All-GLIAC
- The 'Cats hold a 7-0-3 record at home this season and hold a combined record of 26-1-7 since Sandoval took over
- As a team, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 35-8 and outshot their opponents 319-107. The Wildcats lead the GLIAC in total goals scored (35), shots (319), shutouts (13), and assists (26).
Last Time Out
The Wildcats had home contests against the Michigan Tech Huskies to finish out the regular season and started the GLIAC tournament play against Purdue Northwest. The 'Cats came out on top against both teams with decisions of 1-0 and 3-0.
In the match against the Huskies,
Stephanie Trujillo scored the sole goal for the 'Cats, while
Angelina Perritano also attempted a shot on goal. Goalkeeper
Jillian Thompson recorded a total of seven saves.
The three goals of the game were registered by
Molly Pistorius (2) and
Angelina Perritano in the game against the Pride.
Hannah Kastamo recorded the most shots with four, while
Brenna Musser and Perritano were close behind her with three.
Jillian Thompson registered two saves, putting her at a total of 39 this season, and earning her 13th shutout of the season.
