Huskies Edged by Northern Michigan Friday Night
| Final | 1 | 2 | OT | OT2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Northern Michigan (4-10-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
Michigan Tech (5-10-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech soccer team suffered a tough 1-0 non-conference loss in double overtime Friday night to Northern Michigan at Sherman Field to close the regular season. The Huskies split the season series with the Wildcats 1-1 after winning in Marquette 1-0 on October eighth. Tech honored the 2017 seniors Taylor Archibald, Sarah Boyd, Kirsen Hudak, and Olivia Smith prior to Friday's match.
"This was a tough loss for us tonight," Michigan Tech Head Coach Michelle Jacob said. "We can't expect to win games if we don't finish our opportunities. We created plenty, but weren't able to get it done."
Northern Michigan (4-10-2) unloaded the first shot of the match in the opening minute, but the blast by Abby Cook was turned away by senior goalie Kirsen Hudak. Michigan Tech (5-10-1) was able to counter in the fifth minute when junior Rachel Wall sent a strike wide of the net.
The Wildcats controlled the ball in the attacking third over the next few minutes and in the process generated four corner kicks. However, the Huskies regained a bit of offensive momentum in the 24th minute thanks to a corner kick and quick shot by freshman Brooke Schauer that drifted just wide left.
Freshman Emily Zeitunian then fired a shot on goal in the 28th minute that was saved by goalie Brianna Frontuto. In the 29th minute, freshman Jesse Jacobusse nearly gave Tech the lead but hit the post leaving the scoreboard at 0-0. Zeitunian had one more chance in the first half to send the Huskies ahead, but another save by Frontuto in the 37th minute prevented that from happening.
Both goalies were tested early in the second, but made the saves to keep the contest at 0-0. Jacobusse pushed the ball forward against Frontuto in the 50th minute followed Jenna Halonen launching a shot towards Hudak, which she held onto for the save.
Midway through the second half the Huskies aggressively attacked the net and generated some of their best opportunities of the night to score. Boyd slipped behind the defense and had a shot turned away by Frontuto in the 58th minute. Following a shot by Northern Michigan, Tech counter attacked with Boyd glancing a strike off the crossbar in the 60th minute and then just missed high in the 63rd minute.
Unfortunately, the zeros on the scoreboard didn't budge in Tech's favor and time expired in regulation. The Wildcats had a couple of chances to connect on a goal late, but Hudak denied shot attempts by Sophia Sachs in the 83rd minute and Madison Hamilla in the 86th minute to vault the game into extra frames.
The teams combined for just two shots in the first overtime with Allyssa Milam missing wide of the net for Northern Michigan followed by a shot on goal from freshman Kassity Swanson that was saved by Frontuto. In the second overtime, the only shot that was taken unfortunately went into the back of the net. Halonen ended up giving the Wildcats the win on her eighth goal of the season off assist by Cook. Cook delivered a through ball up the field past the Tech defense setting up the kick by Halonen.
Boyd paced the Huskies' offense with three total shots followed by Zeitunian and Jacobusse with two shots apiece. Both of Zeitunian's attempts were shots on goal that ended up being saved. Hudak played all 103:46 in front of the net and made five saves.
Halonen had four shots for the Wildcats and registered the game winning goal in the 104th minute. Cook took a pair of shots and was credited with the assist on the goal by Halonen. As a team, Northern Michigan had the edge in shots 17-10 and also held a slight advantage in corner kicks at 5-4. Frontuto went the distance in goal and earned her fourth win of the season as a result of five saves.
The Huskies will open the postseason on Tuesday when they travel to Grand Valley State for the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. Tech played the third ranked Lakers tough last weekend at Sherman Field. Tuesday's kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
