MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University women's soccer program had their first chance at a GLIAC tournament title since 2019 as they played Northern Michigan Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals (9-6-6, 6-3-5 GLIAC) fell 3-0 to the Wildcats (13-3-4, 8-2-3 GLIAC).

NMU outshot SVSU 17-12 and had 10 shots on goal to the Cardinals four. Lainey Garbarz had the net for Saginaw Valley, stopping seven of the 10 shots she faced. Stephanie Strong led offensively with a third of the teams' shots with four and half of the shots on goal with two. Madi Bajis and Lauryn Fracassi both had two shots as well.

The Wildcats started strong scoring in the 5th minute of the match with Molly Pistorius netting the goal. Saginaw Valley had three corner kicks in the first half but could not generate a tying goal off the opportunities. Northern Michigan added to their lead in the 36th minute and the 51st minute from the GLIAC leading goal scorer Justina L'Esperance.

The match got physical down the stretch as NMU totaled 12 fouls in the final 45 minutes to SVSU's three. The Cardinals had a couple of free kick opportunities outside the 18-yard box but again, couldn't find the back of the net.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley women's soccer awaits the NCAA DII women's soccer selection show for the national tournament on Monday, November 18 at 7:00 PM to see if their season will continue. SVSU finishes the GLIAC tournament with the same conference record from 2023 at 6-3-5 and with one more loss and one more tie than the previous season.