Huskies travel to Northern Michigan for GLIAC Quarterfinal – Michigan Tech

HOUGHTON, Mich. – A new season starts Tuesday for the Michigan Tech soccer team, traveling across the U.P. for a GLIAC quarterfinal matchup against Northern Michigan at 2 p.m.

The Black & Gold earned the No. 8 seed in the GLIAC Tournament following a scoreless draw at No. 19 Grand Valley State on Sunday. Oddly enough, the Wildcats earned a 1-1 draw with Saginaw Valley State, earning the No. 1 seed, also winning the GLIAC regular season for the second straight year.

Watch the Huskies 

All home and GLIAC games will be streamed on FloSports. Michigan Tech fans can watch all home and conference games in volleyball, basketball, football and soccer with one subscription. FloSports provides each subscriber with access to all content and events with the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription. Subscriptions are offered in two different billing packages – monthly and annual. Discounts are available for students enrolled at GLIAC member and associate member institutions. You must subscribe with a .edu email address to be eligible. FloSports is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, and Chromecast.

About the Wildcats

Northern Michigan earned the No. 1 seed in the GLIAC Tournament following a weekend of 1-1 draws, first at No. 19 GVSU on Thursday, then Saginaw Valley State on Saturday to finish with a league standing of 9-2-3 for their second-straight GLIAC regular season championship. For the year, the Wildcats are 11-3-4 overall and hold the No. 5 spot in the newest Midwest Regional poll.

Northern Michigan has scored 47 goals this season, averaging 2.6 per outing on 19.9 shots. The Wildcats hold the top-three goal scorers in the GLIAC, led by Justina L’Esperance with 10 goals. Brooke Pietila is tied for the league lead with four game-winners and nine total goals. Molly Pistorius ranks third in the GLIAC with six goals. The trio are also atop the conference in assists and points.

Defensively, freshman goalkeeper Sally Patton has nine combined shutouts this season, with an overall record of 10-2-4. She has allowed just seven goals for a save percentage of .844, recording 38 saves facing 94 shots. 

The Wildcats are 6-1 at home this season and bested Michigan Tech 2-0 in the only meeting of the regular season back on Oct. 11.

About the Huskies

Michigan Tech got the eighth seed in the conference tournament, closing out the regular season with a 2-1 loss at Saginaw Valley State on Thursday before holding No. 19 Grand Valley State to a scoreless draw on Saturday. The Huskies finished the regular season with an overall ledger of 6-10-1 and 4-9-1 in the loop.

Senior defender Emilie Clayton scored the Huskies’ lone goal in the final weekend of the regular season in the 2-1 loss at Saginaw Valley State. She netted the goal following her penalty kick shot that was stopped, tying the game at 1-all in the 51st minute on Thursday.

The Huskies defense came up big to earn the scoreless draw at No. 19 Grand Valley State in a contest where junior goalkeeper Bri Barrows recorded a career-high 14 saves en route to her fifth shutout of the year. She’s recorded 79 saves, facing 162 shots in 16 games for the Black & Gold.

Offensively, Michigan Tech is averaging 14 shots per game to go with 6.24 shots on goal, ranking third in the league. Senior forward Julia Pietila paces the offense with a team-leading 14 points from six goals and two assists. Clayton and veteran Kiersen Korienek have recorded two goals as the second-best goal-scorers this season.

Junior defender Grace Hoeppner has a team-leading three assists this season.

One Last Thing

Michigan Tech holds an overall road record of 5-7-1 against Northern Michigan. The Huskies tied with the Wildcats in a scoreless draw on Sept. 30, 2022, with the last road win coming in the 2018 season.