Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) women's soccer team secured a 3-1 victory against the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals in Marquette, Michigan. The Wildcats took an early lead, which was equalized by the Cardinals in the second half. However, NMU quickly regained momentum with a goal just 28 seconds after the tie and sealed their win with another goal near the 80th minute.

Head coach Jon Sandoval praised his team's performance: "The team showed up and chose to fight and play for each other today," he said. "They showed a lot of grit and resilience after [the Cardinals] leveled it up. I couldn't be more proud of this group's effort today."

Six different Wildcats contributed points during the match. Justina L'Esperance led with a goal and an assist, while Hannah Kastamo and Molly Pistorius scored the other two goals. Brooke Pietila added an assist, Madison Biblia recorded two assists, and Lucy Burk also contributed with one.

Weather conditions played a role in the game as crosswinds reached up to 30 miles per hour. Coach Sandoval commented on this challenge: "This is what we were raised in, and this is what we do on a daily basis, so this was nothing new to us. Wind, rain, or snow, we use it to our advantage."

With this win, NMU improved their overall record to 6-2-2 and their conference record to 4-1-1. They are now 3-1-0 at home for the season.

The Wildcats will next face Michigan Tech in Houghton on October 11.