Great Lakes Wire

The Northern Michigan University women’s soccer team is set to open its 2025 season at home under new head coach Erin Egolf. The Wildcats will face St. Cloud State on Friday, September 5, at 1 p.m., followed by a match against Minnesota Duluth on Sunday, September 7, at noon.

The team has seen success in recent years, with back-to-back regular and postseason conference championships and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. However, the program underwent significant changes during the offseason, including roster turnover and the hiring of Egolf as the eighth head coach in program history.

Egolf previously served as an assistant coach at Division I Illinois State in 2024 and had a successful nine-year tenure as head coach at the University of Springfield, where she became the winningest coach in UIS history and led the team to three GLVC tournament berths.

"We have girls that challenge for everything, they tackle everything, they win everything, and there's a certain edge to it that I love. There is no team that is going to play us and then leave feeling like it was an easy game... I think our team is very competitive and they get after it, and I love that about them," said Egolf.

The Wildcats are predicted to finish fourth in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) for 2025 according to a preseason poll voted on by coaches. Grand Valley State topped the poll.

Reflecting on her approach with the team, Egolf added: "The level of accountability is high, the standards that the [student-athletes] have for themselves is really high, and I don't have to do a lot in terms of motivation; they bring a lot of effort every day... We have to control what we can, and that's something I'm big on. No matter how good of a soccer team you are, we can always control our effort and our attitude within the organization."

Egolf hired Nathan Phillips as her assistant coach. Phillips joined from Millikin University where he contributed to steady improvements over his three seasons there.

Key returning players include senior Hannah Kastamo—who earned All-America First Team honors among several other accolades last season—and junior forward/midfielder Madison Bilbia who increased her scoring output during her sophomore year. Senior defender Kenna Alexander played all 22 games last season while redshirt junior goalkeeper Jillian Thompson set program records with 14 shutouts and led the nation with a goals against average of 0.36.

Bilbia spoke about adjusting to new leadership: "[Coach Egolf's] impact has been bringing a sense of calmness," she said. "On the first day she came in, she had everything together and we stepped into practice like it was completely normal... A big part of it is not looking at the season as a whole but taking it day by day."

Senior defender Addison Wargo commented: "I'm super excited to embrace the change... We had a stellar season last year, and [we're] excited to see what we can do [this year]. We have our standards, and we keep to them."

The Wildcats’ roster includes four seniors and nine upperclassmen along with fourteen freshmen joining this fall. NMU begins its schedule with exhibitions against UW-Stevens Point (August 22) and Carroll University (August 24).

Egolf encouraged local support for her debut campaign: "I would encourage anyone to come out and see us," she said. "It's going to be high-level soccer, and our team is going to walk away from every game proud of the effort we put out... We've got a lot of home games this fall, and we would appreciate anyone who came out and showed their support. Go 'Cats!"

St. Cloud State enters having reached consecutive NCAA tournaments over two seasons while setting an eleven-game unbeaten streak last year; key players include Ellie Primerano (senior forward) and Ana Spaine (junior defender). Minnesota Duluth was picked eleventh in its conference preseason poll after finishing last year with two wins; senior goaltender Kaycee Chavez and junior attacker Jessica Eischens were listed as players to watch for UMD.

For more updates throughout the season fans can follow @NMU_wsoccer on Instagram or X (formerly Twitter).