MARQUETTE, Mich. - After being crowned back-to-back GLIAC Regular Season Champions, the NMU women's soccer team holds the first seed in the conference and will be home for the playoffs, starting Tuesday with a clash against the Michigan Tech Huskies.

The Wildcats (11-3-4, 9-2-3, 30 pts) drew 1-1 to no. 19 Grand Valley State and Saginaw Valley on the road en route to being named conference regular-season champions this past weekend. The Huskies (6-10-1, 4-9-1, 13 pts) dropped its first match to SVSU 1-2 before drawing GVSU 0-0 on Saturday.

This will be the second time the Wildcats and Huskies have met this season, and the first on the Wildcats' home pitch. The two sides' previous meeting was on October 11 in Houghton; the Wildcats won 2-0 with goals from Brooke Pietila and Justina L'Esperance, and a four-save shutout from Sally Patton.

The last time the Wildcats played the Huskies in the postseason came on November 9, 2021, a 2-1 win for the Wildcats in the GLIAC Quarterfinal in Houghton to advance to the Semifinals. L'Esperance scored the game-winning goal in the 56th minute. 

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Tuesday, November 12 - vs Michigan Tech at 2 PM
Watch on FloFC | Live Stats 

Cat Nips

• The Wildcats have been crowned GLIAC Regular Season Champions for the second consecutive season, matching the nine conference wins the team hit last season 
• The Wildcats are 6-1 at home this season, out-scoring its opponents 22-2 in that frame with five shutouts, and are 34-3-7 under head head coach Jon Sandoval
• The Wildcats lead the conference and hold top marks in the nation in shots per game (6th), assists (7th), shots on goal per game (8th), assists per game (8th), total points (10th), points per game (11th), goals (12th), and scoring offense (17th)
• The Wildcats lay claim to the top three offensive weapons in the conference in Justina L'Esperance (10-7--27), Brooke Pietila (9-7--25), and Molly Pistorius (6-7--19), who are one, two, and three in points, goals, assists, and points per game, respectively
• Brooke Pietila will be playing in her 94th career game on Tuesday, setting the NMU record for all-time games played. Pietila leads the conference in GWGs with four

A Look at the Huskies
The Huskies finished the season winless in its final three games and 2-7-1 in the final 10, being shutout in seven of those contests. The Huskies are 3-6-1 on the road this season and are winless in the last five, but are coming off of a game where they held no. 19 GVSU to a 0-0 draw.

Julia Pietila leads the offense for the Huskies, where she is third in the conference in goals and fifth in points (6-2--14). Pietila is one of only two to have played and started in all 17 matches for the Huskies, the other being Molly Bolang (1-1--3), who leads all field players in minutes played for the Huskies. Bri Barrows is the netminder Tech, holding a 1.03 GAA and .832 SV%, and coming off a 14-save shutout against the Lakers on Saturday in Allendale.