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Women's Soccer Emma Marotz - Athletics Communications Assistant

PREVIEW: Women's Soccer Opens GLIAC Campaign on the Road

Wildcats take on the Roosevelt Lakers and Parkside Rangers over the weekend

MARQUETTE, Mich. - The NMU Wildcat women's soccer team hits the road this weekend for its GLIAC opening games. They face off against Roosevelt on Friday, the 19th, and then Parkside on Sunday, the 21st. 

The Wildcats are searching for their first win of the season, currently holding a record of 0-1-3 after the tough non-conference schedule. Their first matchup of the GLIAC calendar comes against Roosevelt, who is currently ranked 3rd in the GLIAC with a 2-1-0 record. They then turn around and end the road weekend against Parkside, who is currently 8th in the conference after a 0-3-1 start. 

Kick-off against the Lakers is set for Friday, September 19, at 2 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. kick-off against the Rangers on Sunday, September 21. 

Over the weekend, the team faced tough competition from both Northwood and Cedarville, both regionally ranked teams. The team's first loss of the season came at the hands of Northwood, where Jillian Thompson had two saves, only letting one slip past in the second half. Hannah Kastamo had a shot at goal during her 90 minutes on the field, along with Kenna Alexander, Addison Wargo, and Ava Buhlman. 

"It was a growth weekend [for our team]," said head coach Erin Egolf in her weekly media availability. "I think Thursday we under performed. We played a good team in Northwood, but the game was there for the taking, and we didn't take advantage of it. We had a lot of conversation after the game on Thursday, then we came out on Saturday and played the best game we've played all year against Cedarville, who is probably the best team we've played so far, and I thought we were the better team on the day."

The second game of the weekend ended in a scoreless draw, despite the 'Cats hitting the post in the opening minutes and generating quality chances throughout the match against the Yellow Jackets. Thompson had another strong game, with 5 saves during the 90 minutes. Kastamo clocked in another 2 shots at goal, the Wildcats had the ball 61% of the time, and the team registered seven corner kicks to the Yellow Jackets' one. 


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, September 19 - at Roosevelt at 2 PM
Watch | Live Stats

Sunday, September 21 - at Parkside at 1 PM
Watch | Live Stats


Hear From Head Coach Erin Egolf
"We're coming off a good performance, but stepping into conference, it's a new season now. We're here to take care of business in our conference games, regardless of what happened in our non-conference games, and we've got to take those next steps… if we play well, good things will happen."



A Look at Roosevelt
The Lakers are 2-1-0 in their opening trio of matches, and are currently riding a two-game win streak that includes a 5-1 win over Upper Iowa and a 3-2 win at Thomas More. The Lakers got its most recent win thanks to the help of a Bella Perry brace, netting the game-winner and scoring her first two collegiate goals to earn GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week. 

The Lakers have had quite the offensive surge to start the 2025 campaign, scoring 10 goals in the opening three matches after scoring just eight times all of last season. The offense is among the national leaders to start the campaign, with the team's assists per game ranked eighth, points per game ranked 12th, and scoring offense ranked 14th.

The Lakers lay claim to five of the top eight point producers in the GLIAC heading into this weekend, led by Daisy Garcia with three goals and two assists for eight points in three games. Garcia's 2.67 points per game is seventh-best, and Mayte Gongora's three assists are the 12th-best on the national scale. 

Although the Lakers lead both the conference and the region in goals scored, assists, and total points, they struggle defensively. They rank last in the region in save percentage (SV%), second-worst in the conference in goals-against average - allowing two goals per game - and are one of just three GLIAC teams yet to record a shutout this season.


A Look at Parkside
After opening the season with a tightly contested 1-2 loss and a 2-2 tie, the Rangers found a tough run of matches on the road last weekend, losing 0-5 against St. Cloud State and 0-4 to Concordia-St. Paul. 

The Rangers are led by Carley Notle (2-0--4), who scored once in both the loss to Winona State and the draw to Lewis. Grace Breuchel (1-0--2) holds the other Ranger goal, and both Emily Giese and Emily Mikkelson have an assist. Four goalkeepers have seen the net this season, but it was Tristen Cross who played all 180 minutes last weekend. Cross is second in the conference in saves per game (6.00), making 12 saves total last weekend. 

Despite being near the bottom of the conference in major offensive categories, the Rangers do well to earn set-pieces, as they are second to only Grand Valley in corner kicks per game, averaging just below five. 




 
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Players Mentioned

Kenna Alexander

#10 Kenna Alexander

MF/D
5' 4"
Senior
Ava Buhlman

#21 Ava Buhlman

D
5' 5"
Junior
Hannah Kastamo

#7 Hannah Kastamo

D
5' 8"
Senior
Jillian Thompson

#1 Jillian Thompson

GK
5' 8"
Redshirt Junior
Addison Wargo

#24 Addison Wargo

D
5' 3"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Kenna Alexander

#10 Kenna Alexander

5' 4"
Senior
MF/D
Ava Buhlman

#21 Ava Buhlman

5' 5"
Junior
D
Hannah Kastamo

#7 Hannah Kastamo

5' 8"
Senior
D
Jillian Thompson

#1 Jillian Thompson

5' 8"
Redshirt Junior
GK
Addison Wargo

#24 Addison Wargo

5' 3"
Senior
D