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Kenna Alexander vs Ferris State
Kenna Alexander vs Ferris State last season

Women's Soccer Emma Marotz - Athletics Communications Assistant

PREVIEW: Women's Soccer Continues Home Stand with Bulldogs and Cardinals

MARQUETTE, Mich. - The NMU women's soccer team continues its home stand by hosting conference foes Ferris State and Saginaw Valley this weekend.

The Wildcats (2-3-3, 2-2-0 GLIAC) enter the weekend with a pair of crucial conference matches looming against the Bulldogs and Cardinals; the 'Cats sit just one point behind the third-place 'Dogs,  and are only one win ahead of the sixth-place Cardinals. 

Kick-off against Ferris State (2-1-4, 2-0-1 GLIAC) is set for Friday at 1 p.m. from the NMU soccer field. After dropping a 1-0 decision to one of the better teams in the region in Cedarville, the Bulldogs have been in good form since, riding a six-game unbeaten streak while doing a good job of keeping the ball out of the net.

The 'Cats face off against Saginaw Valley (3-3-1, 1-2-0 GLIAC) at noon on Sunday after the Cardinals play Michigan Tech in Houghton on Friday. SVSU has been in good form recently as well, as the only two losses in its past six matchups came against No. 4 Grand Valley and regionally ranked Parkside.

Weekend Promotions
Friday's match falls on Plaidurday! We encourage fans to wear their plaid to the pitch. Sunday is Youth Sports Day at the NMU soccer field, and we look forward to seeing the Marquette community's youth soccer programs in the stands.

Follow The Action
Follow @NMU_wsoccer on Instagram and @NMU_wsoccer on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the games.

Friday, October 3 - vs Ferris State at 1 PM
Watch | Live Stats

Sunday, October 5 - vs Saginaw Valley at Noon
Watch | Live Stats

Hear from Erin Egolf
"[Looking at our first match this weekend], Ferris is going to be a good side, a we're going to have to play well again. We're going to have to match physicality and be organized defensively if we want to have success [this weekend]."



Last Time Out
The first of two GLIAC home games this past weekend came against Grand Valley State University, the third-best team in the nation and first in the Midwest region. After a tightly contested first half an hour, the Lakers scored three goals in ten minutes to end the first half, and the Wildcats would eventually fall 0-4. Goalkeeper Carly Sides had a career high of 11 saves. Despite the tough loss, head coach Egolf said her team responded well.

"When you lose 4-0, I think you can go one of two directions; you can pout and be bummed and let that start a chain of events that gets worse and worse and snowballs, or you can step up and do something about it. Our girls came back to practice on Saturday ready to go, and our game plan for Davenport was carried out really well."

The second game of the weekend came against Davenport, where NMU secured its first conference and home win of the season. The team won 4-0 thanks to Irene Killunen's brace, and a goal and assist from both Hannah Kastamo and Addison Frantti. Sides stopped all five shots that were on target, earning her first career clean sheet in the process. 

"This all goes back to our consistency. We've seen really good moments and good games, and really poor moments and games we don't play as well, and we need to find a way to close that gap."

Looking At Our Opponents
Ferris State
The Bulldogs currently sit one spot ahead of the Wildcats in the GLIAC table, holding an overall record of 2-1-4. Undefeated in conference play, Ferris enters the weekend 2-0-1 against GLIAC foes, with two wins in the past three games. 

On the scoresheet, the Bulldogs are led by upperclassmen Katherine Welch (2-2--6) and Grace Sampson (2-0--4), who have both found form as of late; Welch has found all of her points in the last four games, and Sampson has two goals in the last three matches. Welch paces the conference in shots and shots on goal, 24 and 11, respectively. 

Though the Bulldogs have only scored six goals to start the season (the fewest mark in the GLIAC), the team plays tight defensively, having only allowed five goals against all season, just one more than conference leader GVSU. Of GLIAC goalkeepers with five or more games played, Korinne Ihrke leads the conference in fewest goals against, GAA (.714), and save percentage (.828).

The Bulldogs are another physical team, as they are second in the GLIAC in total fouls (86) and yellow cards (8).

The Wildcats are unbeaten against the Bulldogs in the last seven games, going 6-0-1 in that frame. The last time Northern Michigan lost to Ferris State at home was September 23, 2018. Hannah Kastamo (2g), Madison Bilbia (1g), Alyse Daavettila (1a), and Kenna Alexander (1a) all have recorded points against the Bulldogs in the last five meetings between the two sides.

Saginaw Valley
The Cardinals enter a crucial weekend looking to make moves up the GLIAC standings. SVSU has three points, and directly ahead of them are Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan, with four and six points, respectively. 

The Cardinals are led by senior midfielder Madi Bajis, who leads the conference in goals (4) and is second in points (9), and has scored in all but three games this season. Behind Bajis is Emily Koldin (2-2--6), who is riding a two-game point streak, with a goal and an assist in that frame. Senior netminder Lainey Garbarz backstops this team, second in the conference in saves (34) and minutes played (6:01.01).

As a team, the Cardinals have scored 13 goals, averaging 1.86 goals per game, and have 35 points (13-9--35), all of which are the third-most in the GLIAC.

The 'Cats are unbeaten in the last four meetings with the Cardinals, and have not lost in Marquette since October 25, 2019. Kastamo (1g) and Bilbia (1a) both have points against the Cardinals in the past three games. 



 
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Players Mentioned

Kenna Alexander

#10 Kenna Alexander

MF
5' 4"
Senior
Madison Bilbia

#13 Madison Bilbia

F/MF
5' 5"
Junior
Alyse Daavettila

#31 Alyse Daavettila

MF
5' 3"
Sophomore
Hannah Kastamo

#7 Hannah Kastamo

F/D
5' 8"
Senior
Carly Sides

#0 Carly Sides

GK
5' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
Addison Frantti

#6 Addison Frantti

F
5' 5"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Kenna Alexander

#10 Kenna Alexander

5' 4"
Senior
MF
Madison Bilbia

#13 Madison Bilbia

5' 5"
Junior
F/MF
Alyse Daavettila

#31 Alyse Daavettila

5' 3"
Sophomore
MF
Hannah Kastamo

#7 Hannah Kastamo

5' 8"
Senior
F/D
Carly Sides

#0 Carly Sides

5' 7"
Redshirt Freshman
GK
Addison Frantti

#6 Addison Frantti

5' 5"
Freshman
F