David Archambeau/For the Gazette Michigan Tech midfielder Bella Vasoli protects the ball from a Grand Valley State defender during a game Sunday, Sept. 22, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton.

By DAVER KARNOSKY

dkarnosky@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — Thanks to a 6-0 win on Sunday over GLIAC-newcomer Roosevelt, the Michigan Tech Huskies soccer team was able to salvage a split from their weekend road trip. On Friday, they lost to Purdue Northwest, 2-1, so they are now 4-3 on the season overall and 2-2 in conference play.

In Friday’s matchup with the Pride, the Huskies carried a 1-0 lead into half time, but in similar fashion to their losses to No. 1 Grand Valley State and to Northwood earlier this season, the Huskies gave up multiple goals in the second half.

On Sunday, the Huskies got two goals from senior forward Julia Pietila and then first goals of the season from fifth-year midfielder Kiersen Korienek, sophomore forward Brooke Green, senior forward Taylor Noble and fifth-year defender Molly Bolang.

“Friday was a little rough,” said coach Melissa Kuhar. “They’re sitting at No. 2 in the conference for a reason. They do what they do well, and it disrupts kind of how we wanted to do things. But, bouncing back on Sunday was a good one. We got to play a lot of people, got to get some goals, really kind of do some things right, and kind of hone in on what we want to do. So, it was nice to kind of get that bounce back. A good kind of your statement kind of win after a rough Friday.”

Kuhar continues to try to sort out how to help the Huskies work through their second-half issues that have cost them games this season.

“Of all the goals we’ve given up, only one has been in the first half,” she said. “So, they’ve all been second half goals. Trust me, I’m trying to figure it out still. It’s been interesting to kind of try different things. They’re not working.

“I think the second half on Friday wasn’t a lack of us coming out to play. We were ready to play. They just took advantage of a couple chances they had, and they had a pretty hefty wind in their advantage in the second half, too, which was hard for us to then kind of build out of the back, or get out of that pressure. They applied really good pressure and kind of pinned us in.”

Pietila leads the GLIAC in scoring now after scoring her sixth and seventh goals of the season on Sunday.

“Julia, if you asked her, she’d probably be a little upset with just the way Friday went for herself and then for our team,” said Kuhar. “It’s nice getting other people on the stat sheet. She leads our conference in goals right now, which is awesome. I’ll never complain, and, knock on wood, she keeps doing that.”

The lone Huskies scorer on Friday was sophomore midfielder Ryley Winrich. Kuhar likes what she is seeing from Winrich, who is taking advantage of the opportunities she has been earning.

“She’s very technical on the ball,” Kuhar said. “She works hard. She definitely is stepping up in the middle there and really kind of taking advantage of the moment this year. She didn’t really play last year. I don’t even think she played at all. Just being able to kind of take advantage of that, I think the style we’re trying to play really suits her as a player.

“She’s got a crack of a left foot on her. When she hits the ball, she hits the ball well. So, trying to get her some more goals kind of in the run of play is what we’re working on.”

Winrich is just one of several players taking advantage of the chance to get into the lineup this season as Kuhar continues to evaluate what she has on the roster.

“There’s a lot of them like that,” she said. “It’s kind of been nice, (with our) possession style, to have some of the girls that maybe didn’t play a lot in the past that actually really do fit into that style that I want to play. So, it’s been nice to kind of have that already on the team. I don’t really have to even recruit for our upcoming classes to really fill that, because I have that there.

“That was kind of a nice little surprise in preseason, finding that out, because I hadn’t seen them play. There’s a handful of them that didn’t get minutes in the past that are really stepping up and showing what they have. Again, I think it’s just a fresh start for all of them, and that’s kind of been a good benefit.”

SCOUTING THE

CARDINALS

The Saginaw Valley State Cardinals come into this weekend 3-3-1 overall and 1-1-1 in GLIAC play after earning a 0-0 draw with Grand Valley last Friday.

The Cardinals have just six goals scored as a team this point in the season. They are led by junior forward Rileigh Garbarz, who has two goals and seven points. Junior midfielder Madi Bajis has also gotten off to a fast start with two goals in her first seven games.

In goal, junior keeper Lainey Garbarz has been solid, going 3-2-1 in six starts with a 0.83 goals against average and an .828 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS

The Ferris State Bulldogs are 3-1-3 on the season and 2-0-1 in GLIAC play after earning a draw with Davenport on Sunday, 1-1.

Junior forward Haley Buckman leads the team in scoring with three goals in seven games. Sophomore forward Katherine Welch has gotten off to a fast start with one goal and five points. Senior midfielder Brinley Bell has a big part of the offense as well, with a team-high four assists.

Senior keeper Lauren Kubacki and freshman Morgan Fillion have split time in goal with Kubacki playing in five games, starting three and Fillion starting four. Both have a shut out.

GAME TIMES

The Huskies and Cardinals are set to do battle on Friday at 5 p.m. at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. Sunday, the Huskies and Bulldogs are set to start at 12 p.m.