The Northern Michigan
University Women’s Soccer team
hit the road this past weekend

determined to end their six-
game losing streak. The Wildcats

faced the Ashland University
(AU) Eagles on Friday, Oct. 19.
NMU dropped the game 4-0,
falling victim to the Eagles’ strong
offensive performance. After the
defeat, Northern set their sights
on the Saginaw Valley State
University (SVSU) Cardinals. On

Sunday, Oct. 21, the ’Cats took
the field seeking a crucial victory
over the Cardinals. Despite a late
push from the Wildcats, Saginaw
Valley held on to beat NMU by
a score of 4-3. The two losses
extended the Northern winless
drought to eight straight games.

Sophomore forward Jenna
Halonen made her return to the
pitch on Friday after missing more
than a month due to an injury.
Ashland University started the
scoring early in Friday’s game,
striking in the seventh minute.
The Eagles Bella Petrock gave AU
the 1-0 lead after beating senior
goaltender Emma Vermette. The
Wildcats responded with a pair
of shots but in the 30th minute,
Petrock found the scoresheet
for the second time, making it
a 2-0 AU lead. NMU entered
halftime getting outshot 8-3 and
trailing 2-0.

The Wildcats held off the
dynamic Eagle attack for most
of the second half, but Ashland’s
Faith Lewis found the back of the
net in the 70th minute to extend
their lead to 3-0 with 20 minutes
to play. Northern struggled to
produce any chances during the
second half. In the 88th minute,
off a corner kick, AU’s Stephanie
Slader made it a 4-0 game. The
4-0 deficit would hold the rest
of the match, sealing the Eagles
victory. The final shots were 18-5
in favor of Ashland.

On Sunday the Wildcats
gave up the first goal in the 21st
minute. The 1-0 Cardinal lead
lasted just five minutes. In the

26th minute, NMU freshman
midfielder Caroline Halonen
scored on a penalty kick tying the
game at one. The score remained
1-1 until the 42nd minute of play
when SVSU’s Molly Vanderhoff
made it a 2-1 game after scoring
an unassisted goal from seven
yards out. NMU went into the
halftime intermission trailing 2-1.

The second half started slowly
until Saginaw Valley’s Amy Babon
increased the Cardinal lead in
the 59th minute to 3-1. Babon
scored her second goal in the 70th
minute that made it a 4-1 game.
NMU cut into the Saginaw lead
with a goal from Jenna Halonen
in the 79th minute.

Just three minutes later in
the 82nd minute, Caroline
Halonen netted her second goal
of the game making the score
4-3. Despite the late offensive
outburst, NMU could not tie the
match over the final eight minutes,
falling 4-3. The Cardinals outshot
the Wildcats 19-13.

The 2018 regular season will
end at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct.
26, when the Wildcats travel to
Michigan Tech University. The
two teams met earlier this season
in Marquette with the Huskies
earning a 1-0 victory.