Great Lakes Wire

DULUTH, Minn. - The Northern Michigan women's soccer team began their 2024 season with a commanding 6-1 victory over Minnesota Duluth. The Wildcats scored five goals in the first half, including four within the initial 20 minutes.

The scoring commenced just over three minutes into the game when Justina L'Esperance, returning after missing all of 2023, delivered a cross that found Madison Bilbia, who headed in the first goal of the season.

L'Esperance soon added her own goal in the 12th minute, capitalizing on a lead pass from Maria Storm to make it 2-0. Bilbia then scored her second goal minutes later, assisted by Molly Pistorius. Pistorius herself netted a goal in the 21st minute, extending the lead to 4-0.

Hannah Kastamo made it five goals from five shots in the 31st minute by scoring off a loose ball. In the second half, Stephanie Trujillo added another goal in the 57th minute after intercepting an attempted clear by UMD and sending it past their goalkeeper for a 6-0 advantage.

Minnesota Duluth managed to avoid a shutout with an 80th-minute goal from Maria Zanotti, resulting in a final score of 6-1.

"We came in excited and the energy was extremely high," said Bilbia after the match. "We were ready to get a win under our belts."

The Wildcats dominated offensively, marking their 15th instance of scoring three or more goals since early 2022. They took a total of 17 shots compared to UMD's four and had a significant edge with 14 shots on goal versus UMD's four.

Bilbia, L'Esperance, Pistorius, Kastamo, Trujillo, Maria Storm, and Angelina Perritano contributed either goals or assists. A total of 23 Wildcats participated in the match, including three freshmen making their debut.

"It was a good start to our season," L'Esperance commented post-game. "We still have a lot more to prove. I am proud of the way we played tonight."

Up next for Northern Michigan is an away game against St. Cloud State on Saturday, September 1 at 1 p.m. ET.

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