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Women's Soccer Team celebrates scoring a goal

Women's Soccer Braden Golisek - Assistant Director of Sports Information

Preview: Women's soccer pushes for the postseason with senior weekend

MARQUETTE, Mich. -- The NMU women's soccer team closes its regular-season home campaign this weekend, hosting Parkside and Ferris State for senior weekend.

NMU (8-3-3, 5-3-2 GLIAC, 17 pts - T4) will host the Parkside Rangers (7-5-2, 5-4-1 GLIAC, 16 pts - 6th) on Friday, October 23, at 3 p.m. ET before turning its attention to Ferris State (5-6-3, 3-5-2 GLIAC, 11 pts - 8th) for senior day on Sunday, October 25, at 3 p.m. ET. Both games are free to attend, fans can follow along with live stats at nmuwildcats.com, and stay up. to date with continued coverage through nmuwildcats.com and the official NMU women's soccer social media channels. 

"I think we've seen our team be really mature about how we've handled results," added head coach Erin Egolf in her weekly media availability. Egolf and her squad enter the weekend seven games unbeaten coming down to crunch time in GLIAC conference play. "[That] is a really hard thing to do, especially in our sport. We just don't dwell on the previous result for too long. We can celebrate it in the moment, we're excited about it, we're happy about it, results don't happen by accident, it's a lot of hard work and commitment from the girls, but as soon as it rolls into the next week, we're eyes ahead. We can be excited about what's happened, but it's the next opponent up, and we've got to prepare for that."

On top of the seven-game unbeaten run, her side is now four consecutive matches without allowing a goal. Creating chances has been difficult if you are an opponent of the Green and Gold recently, as NMU is outscoring its opponents 20-2 and outshooting the opposition 136-84 in the current seven-game unblemished stretch. Head coach Egolf says her team takes pride in being a team that is tough to generate chances against.

"I think [the current shutout streak] is special. In our sport, it's hard to do no matter who you play, to stop teams from scoring. And it's not just been goals not going in; it's the amount of chances we've allowed other teams to have that have been really few and far between. The saves that Carly's had to make, she's been really solid, but really she hasn't had a ton to do. Really, she's had more to do in possession and helping us build out... Defending for us is a full team concept. It's not just down to Carly, our backline, or our defensive midfielders. We expect all 11 players on the field to defend, and I think the girls have taken a lot of pride in that.

The Wildcats are surging at the right time, as the Green and Gold enter the penultimate weekend of regular season competition, and are fighting for a home playoff position in a jam-packed GLIAC standings. The top four teams will host a home GLIAC playoff game, and the top eight teams make the GLIAC playoffs. The Wildcats and Rangers are right on the bubble and pushing for one of those four coveted home spots, and the Bulldogs are fighting to maintain its place in the tournament. 

The top of the table is still within sight as well for the Wildcats. Grand Valley and Wayne State lead the conference at 21 points, and Saginaw Valley is third with 19. Maintaining the current run of form will be critical in the final two weekends of play.

"We are in a really good run of form right now. We're playing very well, and there's a lot of things going right for us. You just got to keep riding that train, right? We're not changing a lot at this point; we're not doing anything different than what we've done the last seven games; we just have to add one good performance after another, after another. And I think all of those things lend itself to those seven games. So, we hope to make it eight.

"Parkside's going to be a really tough opponent. They just came off a really good win against Davenport, they're one point behind us, and there's all to play for still. Everyone's hungry for points, everyone's going to play well, everyone's going to compete, and we just have to be in the right space for that. Our team has shown we can be.

Senior day comes before kickoff on Sunday, and will honor the legacies of Madison Bilbia, Ava Buhlman, Isabella Lorens, Madalyn Nissen, and Emily Whyte, all of whom have been here for all four seasons of their collegiate careers.

"I think that's a pretty special thing to celebrate. All five have been really instrumental in the success of this program and how this program has been built. During my short time here, It's been really enjoyable to interact with these five, and I think having a day dedicated to them is going to be really special, and I think all the girls appreciate what these five girls have done. They've been good leaders; they've set a good example and set the standard. To be able to celebrate them, I expect there to be massive amounts of energy, joy, and enjoyment overall in the day, and we hope we can go out on Sunday and send them out the right way."



 
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Players Mentioned

Madison Bilbia

#13 Madison Bilbia

F
5' 5"
Senior
Ava Buhlman

#21 Ava Buhlman

D
5' 5"
Senior
Isabella Lorens

#12 Isabella Lorens

F
5' 3"
Senior
Madalyn Nissen

#19 Madalyn Nissen

D
5' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Emily Whyte

#00 Emily Whyte

GK
5' 5"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Madison Bilbia

#13 Madison Bilbia

5' 5"
Senior
F
Ava Buhlman

#21 Ava Buhlman

5' 5"
Senior
D
Isabella Lorens

#12 Isabella Lorens

5' 3"
Senior
F
Madalyn Nissen

#19 Madalyn Nissen

5' 3"
Redshirt Junior
D
Emily Whyte

#00 Emily Whyte

5' 5"
Redshirt Junior
GK