Huskies Preparing for Regular Season Finale Friday against NMU
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech soccer team will host Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival Northern Michigan University in the final regular season match of the 2016 season Friday at Sherman Field. The Huskies have clinched a home match in the upcoming GLIAC tournament which will be Tuesday at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, the Wildcats are battling for one of the final two playoff spots left to get into the postseason.
Friday's match is also senior night and the Huskies will honor the 2016 senior class of Megan Armstrong, Kat Farkas, Maddie Faust, Katie Fife, Jaci Mielke, Emily Morin, Jessica Splittgerber, and Rebecca Stoffel. In four seasons, they have amassed 44 wins and been to the NCAA Regional tournament twice, going back to back years in 2013 and 2014.
Michigan Tech enters Friday's match with an overall record of 10-3-2 and are 6-2-2 in the GLIAC, leaving them in a tie for second place with Ashland in the conference standings. The Huskies have clinched at least the No. 3 seed in the GLIAC tournament, but would need to win Friday coupled with an Ashland loss to moved up to the No. 2 seed due to the head to head tie breaker being in place.
Mielke continues to power the Tech offense with a season high seven goals and five assists followed by Splittgerber and Taylor Archibald with three goals each. The Huskies have 13 different players with goals and/or assists this season. As a team, Tech is averaging 1.40 goals per match, but are only surrendering 0.58 goals to opponents per contest.
Goalie Kirsen Hudak has 69 saves while giving up just nine goals in the front of the net in 2016. She has 10 wins and eight shutouts going into the final regular season match. Hudak is third in the GLIAC in goals against average while as a team the Huskies are ranked second in that same category.
Northern Michigan is 4-9-3 overall and 3-4-3 in the GLIAC entering Friday's battle with the Huskies. Carmen Villarruel and Carleigh Hillier both pace the Wildcats offense with three goals on the season. Alexandra Simmons and Caroline Glantz have nearly equal minutes in front of the goal. Simmons has a team high 67 saves with Glanzt notching 58 saves in 2016. As a team, the Wildcats are scoring 1.38 goals per game on average while permitting 1.36 goals per match to opponents.
Friday's game will be the second meeting between the two teams this season. Michigan Tech used two first half goals by Splittgerber to edge the Wildcats 2-1 in a non-conference match at NMU on September 17th. Casey Durand had the only goal for the Wildcats late in the second half.
Friday's kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. Fans can follow the action through live video and stats by clicking here.