Great Lakes Wire

The NMU women's soccer team achieved a decisive 5-0 victory against the Michigan Tech Huskies in the opening round of the GLIAC postseason tournament. This win secures home-field advantage for NMU for the rest of the conference postseason.

The Wildcats, with a record of 12-3-4, scored four goals within the first 15 minutes and added another early in the second half. The match marked their 10th clean sheet this season. Head coach Jon Sandoval commented on his team's performance, saying, "This is a group that has been together for a while now... they're a group that really plays for one another."

With five goals in this match, NMU set a new program record with a total of 52 goals this season, surpassing their previous best from 2021. The scoring was initiated by Justina L'Esperance with two goals, followed by Madison Bilbia and Calihan Bearden in quick succession. Angelina Perritano completed the scoring in the second half.

Coach Sandoval praised his team's energy and effort despite having played two matches over the weekend: "We came out with a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and effort... To have that amount of grit to get into it right away was really impressive."

Brooke Pietila set an NMU record by registering her fifth career multi-assist game during her 94th match as a Wildcat. Hannah Kastamo and Molly Pistorius also contributed assists. Goalkeepers Sally Patton and Emily Whyte each made two saves to maintain the shutout.

Sandoval emphasized not becoming complacent as they advance further into November's playoff matches: "[The playoffs] is a new season... Not being complacent while also not letting the highs of winning... be too high."

As top seed in their conference, NMU will host remaining tournament games at home, starting with semifinals on Friday and concluding with Sunday's championship. They face Davenport Panthers next, who secured their first-ever postseason win against Ferris State Bulldogs.

"We need to understand that not every game is going to be like [the game we just played]. Davenport is a very physical and tough team... If we get complacent... it could be a tough day for us," said Sandoval.