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GLIAC CHAMPS! NMU Women's Soccer Repeats
 This story was written by NMU Sports Information. Click the AUDIO buttons to hear post-game comments from Justina L'Esperance and Assstant Coach Natalie Stampfly. MARQUETTE, Mich. - The NMU women's soccer team completed a feat never done before in program history, becoming back-to-back GLIAC postseason champions with a 3-0 win over Saginaw Valley Sunday in Marquette. As the final horn sounded, the Wildcat bench erupted and was met with an onslaught of Wildcat fans who rushed to the field to celebrate with the team. "Nothing short of amazing," commented Natalie Stampfly, who acted as head coach for the Wildcats over the weekend, and saw her team become back-to-back regular season and post-season champions for the first time in program history. "This is a position I've never been in as a player or a coach, and just seeing them out there, this team deserves this really special moment." The Wildcats scored two goals in the first half before adding the third tally shortly after coming out of the halftime break. Stampfly commented that this is a player-driven team, and that it was the athletes that kept the momentum going. "We talked about it on Friday as well, but it was more the second half again. The first half was back-and-forth, a lot of really hard tackles. Then at halftime, it was the team that really picked themselves up… They came out strong in the second half and you could just tell that they really wanted it." Leading the charge was Justina L'Esperance, who scored the final two Wildcat goals to bring her to 15 goals and 37 points on the season. L'Esperance is now one goal short of tying the NMU record of goals in a single season and has tied the 37 single-season points mark, both set by Renee LeBlanc in 2005. L'Esperance was sidelined with an injury for all of 2023, and was only able to watch as her team lifted its two trophies a season ago. "[Being a part of this team] means everything to me. I was sidelined [with an injury] last year, we really wanted to do it again, and I am so proud of this team… Every game someone steps up and puts their teammates in good situations, and this tournament gave us a lot of momentum that will help us out in the [NCAA] tournament." Leading the charge offensively with L'Esperance was Molly Pistorius, who registered the game-winning goal and assisted on Justina's second. Despite not finding the same goal totals as the season before, Molly has set a career-high 11 assists on the season, a credit to how much this team believes in each other. "It just feels amazing. I'm proud of everyone, it's a team effort, and it really proved that we fight and play for each other… Now looking ahead we just take it game-by-game into the [NCAA] tournament from here." The Wildcats kept a clean sheet as Sally Patton made four saves, her sixth shutout of the season, and the 11th time the Wildcats blanked its opposition. NMU scored 12 goals over its three games this postseason, six more goals than every other team in the tournament combined. The Wildcats now await the NCAA tournament selection show to determine what is in store for the Wildcats in the big dance. The selection show will take place at 7 p.m. ET, with a live stream available at NCAA.com. "We've put together two really good games since Friday and we have an incredible leader, so I think going into the next game the team knows what to expect," commented Stampfly, who will move back to her usual assistant coach role with Jon Sandoval's two-game league suspension ending today. "We have a lot of experience with our upperclassmen, and they're ready to be back [in the NCAA tournament]." The Wildcats continued to find ways to open games on the front foot, taking a 1-0 lead before the five-minute mark. Kastamo streaked down the right penalty box toward the touchline, then sent in a cross that found Pistorius. Molly, around the penalty spot, got a good hit and beat goaltender Garbarz. The Wildcats doubled its lead 10 minutes before the half-time whistle, as Daavetila fired a shot on net from the right side of the penalty box. The initial shot was saved, but the rebound landed on the foot of L'Esperance, who had plenty of time and space to get a boot on the ball and find the back of the net. The Wildcats came out of the halftime break on the attack, scoring the team's third goal just five minutes into the second frame. Pistorius broke down into the right-hand side of the box before sending a right-footed cross on the grass toward the middle of the 18-yard box. L'Esperance created space from her defender, got her boot on it, and redirected the ball into the bottom left corner past the keeper to get her second goal of the evening. |
