Carly Sides posts shut out
MARQUETTE, Mich. – The NMU women’s soccer team got its first home and conference win of 2025, thanks to a dominant 4-0 win over the Davenport Panthers.
The Wildcats (2-3-3, 2-2-0 GLIAC) got a pair of goals in each half, bouncing back from Friday’s 0-4 loss to No. 3 GVSU by turning in a decisive 4-0 win of their own.
“I’m so proud of the girls,” said head coach Erin Egolf, who earned her first home victory as a Wildcat head coach on a beautiful late September day in Marquette, 75 degrees and sunny the entire match. “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.”
The Wildcats outshot the Panthers 23-11, including 11 on target to five, both nearly matching the season-highs in those categories set against Roosevelt in the 4-2 win earlier this season. NMU also possessed the ball well, controlling play nearly 60% of the time and spending more than half of their time with the ball in the opposition’s half.
“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.”
The first and third goals came from the same two players, as it was Addison Frantti who set up Hannah Kastamo in the first goal before Kastamo returned the favor with an assist on the Frantti goal. The Wildcats also got a brace from Irene Killunen, who scored from near-identical spots off a pair of free kicks. Gretchen Ellis turned in a great game as well, tacking on an assist while playing 80 minutes, only subbed off once to check a potential injury.
Carly Sides got the first clean sheet of her career today, making all five saves that were on target. Along with the keeper, Kiilunen and Addison Wargo played the full ninety, with other major contributions from Kenna Alexander (84), Kastamo (81), and Ellis (80). The Wildcats used five substitutions today, and all five of those athletes played 20+ minutes.
There was another capacity crowd from the Wildcat community in the bleachers today, something Egolf says her team feeds off.
“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.”
‘Cat Nips
- Defender Irene Killunen scored a brace today, the first two goals of her collegiate career, catapulting her to a share of the team lead in goals.
- Addison Franti scored a goal and an assist today, and now holds an outright lead in points on the ‘Cats, while sharing the lead in goals and assists.
- All-American Hannah Kastamo got her first points of the 2025 campaign, scoring for the first time in 15 games, dating back to last season. Her tally went down as the game-winning goal, the eighth of her career.
- Gretchen Ellis secured her second assist of the season, matching Frantti for the team lead in assists.
- Carly Sides earned both her first win and shutout between the posts for NMU.
How It Happened
The ‘Cats struck early, with Kastamo finding the back of the net just a minute and a half into the game. After an attempted clearance, Ellis played a perfect header to send Frantti behind the defense and toward the left post. Frantti corralled the ball first time, and played a cross into the box and onto the right foot of Kastamo, who converted from in tight.
Davenport almost converted from a corner kick, as a ball was sent into the box and the shot was headed just above the crossbar. Just two minutes later, Bilbia had a great run down the right-hand side and fired a curling ball toward goal that just went high of the right upper-ninety.
The Wildcats converted off a set piece of their own, coming with just eight minutes left in the half. Kiilunen, from just over the Davenport half, sent a ball into the box and toward goal. A Panther defender went up to clear the ball, but her touch redirected the ball into the upper corner and past the outstretched hand of Wolter.
The Wildcats added a third to the scoreboard 20 minutes into the second frame, and this time it was Frantti from Kastamo. After a ball was played back to a Panther defender, Kastamo anticipated the play perfectly, cutting off the pass and beating the defender. She then slid a pass from the left side of the box back to the middle to a wide-open Frantti, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and finished her chance.
Kiilunen earned her brace from a nearly identical position and situation as her first goal, coming from a deep free kick. Her delivery was perfect; the ball landed in the box before taking a big bounce, clearing the outstretched hand of Wolter.
Up Next
The women remain home, hosting Ferris State on Friday at 1 p.m. and Saginaw Valley at noon on Sunday from the NMU Soccer Field.
