The Northern Michigan women’s soccer team finished their regular season in the fall but started up their spring season late this semester. Sophomore Molly Pistorius returned for the spring season with Head Coach Jon Sandoval.
Along with the success of the team, Pistorius had her own successes. The forward midfielder was named the GLIAC Player of the Year, earned First Team All-GLIAC honors and was named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team. Pistorius also earned United Soccer Coaches (USC) First Team All-Region and USC Second Team All-America honors.
“Our spring season is a bit different than our fall because we don’t play the teams in our conference, but we do still compete. Somewhere at a higher level even though we’ve been playing D1 teams … [we’re] just [trying to] grow our program and develop so we’re still in the same team just a bit more of an offseason type feeling,” Pistorius said.
Another difference between the two seasons is the team itself. Four players graduated in the fall, three of whom were starters. The team now faces the challenge of fitting new players into their places and figuring out how the team meshes together.
“[It] has been hard to adjust to but it’s nothing we can’t do,” Pistorius said. “Some people are stepping up and filling those positions as they should be. And things will look different in the fall as well with new freshmen coming in. But yeah, this time in the spring, it’s just a time for us to adjust and try new things and see where girls fit in different positions.”
The first weekend of the spring season, the team headed down to Wisconsin where they played UW-Milwaukee and Marquette University. The ‘Cats ended up losing both of those games. The team then hosted Michigan Tech and UW-Stevens Point where the Wildcats tied with Stevens Point and won over Michigan Tech. In the fall season, the ‘Cats tied with the Huskies in one game and beat them in another.
This is the final weekend for the Wildcat’s spring season as they will head back to Wisconsin to play UW-Green Bay and St. Lawrence.
