North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan University (NMU) women's soccer team secured its first home and conference victory of the 2025 season with a 4-0 win over the Davenport Panthers in Marquette. The Wildcats, now holding a 2-3-3 overall record and 2-2-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), scored two goals in each half.

Head coach Erin Egolf earned her first home win as head coach. "I'm so proud of the girls," Egolf said. "It was a tough result on Friday, and being able to come back, re-group, and establish some dominance today is a huge testament to their mentality. This wasn't a result that happened by accident today; they put together a full 90 minutes of good soccer.

"This was our first game this season where we've been ahead to start, and it's a different mentality when you're leading vs when you're chasing the game. You could see from the first whistle today that we were going after it… Our girls did a great job of establishing ourselves early in this game."

NMU outshot Davenport 23-11, with 11 shots on target compared to five for the Panthers. The Wildcats also maintained nearly 60% possession and spent much of their time controlling play in the opponent's half.

Egolf commented on her team's performance: "We took a lot of responsibility on the ball, and when we got to the final third, we didn't settle. We got great runs into the box on our first and third goals, we had great movement off the ball, and we didn't let them out when we were defending. We got to spend a lot of time in their half thanks to our defense, which in turn led to a lot of offense."

Addison Frantti assisted Hannah Kastamo for NMU's opening goal before Kastamo returned an assist for Frantti's score later in the match. Irene Killunen contributed two goals from free kicks—her first collegiate scores—and Gretchen Ellis added an assist while playing most of the match.

Goalkeeper Carly Sides recorded her first career shutout with five saves. Kiilunen and Addison Wargo played all ninety minutes, while Kenna Alexander (84), Kastamo (81), and Ellis (80) made significant contributions.

Egolf acknowledged fan support: "It means more than I can ever put into words. We've had a great crowd for every game this season; even when the weather is bad they turn out, and that support means more than they know.

"Home field advantage is a very real thing, and the more people you see cheering on our team, our girls say it gives them a huge boost. The energy here is contagious, and our team is very appreciative of everyone who comes out and supports us."

The Wildcats matched their program-best margin of victory against Davenport; previously defeating them by four or more goals only once before—a 5-1 road win in September 2021.

Next up for NMU are home matches against Ferris State on Friday at 1 p.m., followed by Saginaw Valley at noon Sunday at NMU Soccer Field.