Not quite enough

Michigan Tech forward Julia Pietila corrals a ball during a game against Grand Valley State Sunday at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

HOUGHTON — For all intents and purposes, the Michigan Tech Huskies soccer team got off to a great start Sunday, jumping out to an early lead, almost too early if you ask coach Melissa Kuhar. However, the No. 1-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers struck twice over the remaining 79 minutes of the contest to leave Kearly Stadium with a 2-1 win.

“(It was a) hard fought battle,” Kuhar said. “I mean, they’re a good team. They’re No. 1 in the nation for a reason, right? But, (I) thought we could get them there. Thought we could get another one in the second.

“We have to figure out our giving goals up early in second half, but (that is) something I’ll figure out, hopefully, this week leading in. But, yeah, overall, just a good game. Can’t complain about it.”

Kuhar joked that senior forward Julia Pietila’s tally just 11:03 into the contest was too early against a team like the Lakers, who are very deep and experienced.

“I told our girls, we’re gonna have to ride the waves,” She said. “We scored a little too early for my liking. It would have been nice to get that a little later in the half, but, hey, I’m not going to complain about a goal. Then we had to just kind of hold on, and again, they’re a good team, so holding on for that long, it was bound to kind of happen there.

“They can find ways to score, and find ways to attack, but we had a lot of chances we should have put away. So, even with that early goal, it’s tough to ride it out, but there are definitely two, three chances in the second half we should put away.”

For Pietila, who worked a give-and-go with senior forward Taylor Noble to give her the time and space behind the Lakers’ defense, the goal was her fourth of the season and third on the weekend.

The veteran is off to a great start for Michigan Tech.

“She just works hard, plain and simple, she works hard,” Kuhar said. “They’re not always the most beautiful goals. They’re scrappy, outwork people-type goals, and we need that from her.

“I told her that from the beginning of the year, we need her to put goals in the back of the net. I need her to put that ball there, and she’s taking that ownership, and she’s just playing. She’s having fun doing it.”

Pietila had a golden opportunity to add a second tally for the afternoon about 15 minutes into the second half when she created time and space for herself, worked her way past two defenders and fired off a low shot destined for the right corner before Lakers keeper Cailynn Junk dove over to grab it.

While Kuhar loves what she is getting from Pietila, who now has four goals on the season just five games in, she acknowledges that the Huskies need more output from the rest of the team in order to have sustainable success.

“I’m not going to complain about goals from her,” said Kuhar, when asked about Pietila’s play. “I mean, I think she should have had another one in the second.

“We just have to find some other people that kind of step up too, and score some as well. (We) can’t rely all on her.”

After Pietila’s tally, the Lakers pushed back for several minutes, forcing the Huskies to battle defensively. The game was also the Huskies’ third in six days, so fatigue may have been a factor in the Black and Gold’s defensive play.

“Maybe a little, but that’s part of it, right? The grind of the season,” said Kuhar “I don’t know. You could say that might have been part of it, but I’m not about excuses, so, to me, no, We have to grind it out, work hard, and put a full 90 minutes together. We put an 89-minute game together. Thirty seconds was about what it took for them to score two.”

The Lakers broke through at 34:24 when Emma Chudik found Kenney Beardon crashing into the box. Beardon quickly one-timed the pass past Huskies keeper Bri Barrows.

The Lakers’ second tally came just 20 seconds into the second half. Beardon again crashed the net, and this time, she pounced on a rebound off a blocked shot and knocked it into the net.

The Huskies are 3-2 on the season and have given up a goal in the opening minute of the second half in both losses.

“It’s not necessarily something they did, we just came up flat,” she said. “We have to figure that one out. The Northwood game was the same way. We came out flat and got punished for it. That’s on me.”

From there, the Huskies fought back, but could not find a way to get a second goal past Junk. Along with Pietila’s chance, she had two others in quick succession that were both blocked. Sophomore midfielder Ryley Winrich also had a golden opportunity in the box, but her shot sailed over the net.

In the end, Barrows finished her day with four saves for the Huskies. Junk made five for the Lakers.

UP NEXT

The Huskies return to action on Friday with a match at Purdue Northwest at 1 p.m. They follow that game up with one on Sunday against GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt at 1 p.m.