Warriors are the top-ranked team in the Midwest Region
DETROIT — The NMU women’s soccer team opened up its weekend road trip by earning a point in a 1-1 draw with the Wayne State Warriors.
The Wildcats (4-3-2, 1-3-1 GLIAC) took a precious GLIAC conference point away from the Warriors (6-0-2, 2-0-2 GLIAC), the top-ranked team in the Midwest region in terms of NPI ratings heading into the weekend.
While Wayne State has yet to lose a game in its inaugural season as a program, the Wildcats became just the second team to hold the Warriors to one goal or fewer and take points away from Wayne, a result that head coach Erin Egolf commended her team for.
“I’m pleased with the fight from our group today!” added head coach Egolf after speaking with nmuwildcats.com post-match. “Wayne is a very good side, and we knew we would have to put in a huge team effort to get a result. We’ll definitely take a point on the road against a high-level opponent, a point that was well earned.
“There were spells of the game I thought our soccer quality was good, and then other times we let ourselves down a little bit. We have it in us, but it comes back to the consistency piece; we have to keep building on the positives and put more of those quality moments together.”
After sustained pressure from the Wildcats in the opening moments of the match, the Warriors found the back of the net against the run of play on a counterattack. Jess Clyde, from the right side of the box, cut in onto her left foot and sent a decisive strike to the bottom left-hand corner of the net. The Wildcats found themselves down a goal just 10 minutes into the match.
Cecelia Willie broke into the box after receiving a long ball, and the Warrior goalkeeper came off her line and brought down Willie, committing a foul and awarding the Wildcats a penalty. Captain defender Madalyn Nissen stepped up to the spot and decisively hit the ball to the bottom left corner to beat Helfen and draw the Wildcats level.
The Wildcats’ defense came up with a major stand nearing the final 15 minutes of play, as the Warriors got a dangerous corner kick opportunity. Goalkeeper Sides made the save on a header, and defender Ava Buhlman made a critical goal-line clearance on the rebound, as the keeper and defender denied Wayne State the chance to take the lead and keep the game level.
Sides and Buhlman both played the full 90 minutes, joined by Irene Kiilunen and Nissen as the only four Wildcats to play more than 65 minutes. Sole Corley (65), Madison Bilbia (63), and Gretchen Ellis (62) all logged solid shifts from the starting 11, and Sophia Pietila (60) made her first major appearance of the season on the defensive line.
While the Warriors outshot the Wildcats 14-7, the ‘Cats were able to convert more of its chances on the frame, recording five shots on goal to four. The Warriors were awarded eight corner kicks to three, the fouls were even at 10-11, and Reagan Brengman was shown the lone yellow card of the match.
When looking ahead to the Sunday matchup against Saginaw Valley, head coach Egolf is confident in her group after the pair of results against Parkside and now Wayne.
“We have to be up for it again on Sunday against a tough Saginaw team, but I’m confident after seeing our team compete well and battle in our last two games that we’ll be ready!”
