Michigan Tech forward Brooke Green controls the ball while keeping herself between it and a defender from Northwood during a game Saturday, Sept. 13, at Kearly Stadium in Houghton. (David Archambeau/For the Gazette)

BIG RAPIDS — After picking up their second win of the season in a 1-0 victory over Northern Michigan on the road, the Huskies returned to the road last weekend, traveling to face Davenport and Saginaw Valley State, two teams that had beaten them at Kearly Stadium earlier this season. The Huskies fell to Davenport, 2-0, and Saginaw Valley, 6-0.

To say it was a rough weekend in terms of offense would be an understatement.

“It was a tough weekend,” said Huskies coach Melissa Kuhar. “I don’t think we played our best style of soccer. Our energy wasn’t there at times, so it made for a tough, kind of hard weekend.”

The Panthers have now beaten the Huskies twice this season.

“We came out flat against Davenport, and gave up that early goal, and then we’re playing a player down for kind of the last 10 minutes when we were having some momentum, and it was just kind of how the game rolled,” Kuhar said. “For some reason, we just can’t get over the hump of beating Davenport.

Sunday, against Saginaw Valley, wind and rain combined with the play of the Cardinals to make life miserable for Michigan Tech.

“Saginaw is playing some of the best soccer, I think, in this conference at the moment,” said Kuhar. “They’re so clinical in front of the goal, and it’s like any shot they take is a goal, which is crazy. We dug ourselves a hole in the first half, and then it just kind of kept going downhill.”

Still, Kuhar is proud of how hard her team continued to work.

“Our girls still fought, which is always kind of that M.O. of our team,” she said. “Definitely not a great week. So, we’re looking kind of to bounce back, head back downstate and get another crack at Ferris (State) and GV (Grand Valley State), and kind of see what we can do.”

Kuhar utilized both goalkeepers, Bri Barrows and Ludesha Reynolds, in both games last weekend. It was a strategy that bore some fruit for the Huskies earlier in the season.

“I think it’s just something we’re trying, right? We’re trying to create something different,” said Kuhar. “There’s a potential that Lu’s going to have to play this weekend with Bri possibly picking up an injury. We’ll kind of know more (Wednesday), but I have faith in both of them. For us, it’s just kind of trying to find what works, and giving them both some time to kind of show what they can do. Maybe it sparks something, and we can start getting some shutouts and whatnot. But, they’re both such high quality players, so it’s just kind of giving them both that opportunity.”

In front of both Barrows and Reynolds, the Huskies have played well in the area of the field closest to their keepers. Unfortunately, at the other end, Michigan Tech continues to struggle even getting shots through to opposing goalkeepers. Kuhar feels confidence is a premium offensively right now.

“I think it simply comes down to some confidence problems,” she said. “I think there’s times where we get into the box, and our girls just don’t shoot the ball. If you don’t shoot, you’re not scoring. That’s reality. So, for us, this week, I think, especially, we’ll work on some of that just having the ball hit the back of the net, whether that’s just goalkeepers not even in the net, and they can kind of see it happen, and just try to kind of build some confidence up. I think after this tough weekend, you’re giving up eight goals. We struggle to sometimes even get shots off. Some confidence is rattled, I think.”

Kuhar said the team spent time this week working on that confidence.

“So, it’s kind of, what can we do to kind of build that back up this week, and kind of get out of the rut we’re in in terms of that confidence struggle,” Kuhar said. “(We) keep telling them to shoot, keep telling him to attack. We were down nine players in the Davenport game, and we were getting shots off. Right. So, it’s like, it’s possible, but why can’t we do that at other moments? So, it’s kind of trying to crack that code to find the answer there. It’s not for a lack of our girls trying. It’s not for a lack of potential opportunities. It’s just now finding the back of the net.”

Scouting the Bulldogs

The Ferris State Bulldogs are 4-4-5 on the season and 4-3-2 in GLIAC play after losing to Purdue Northwest on Friday and then beating Wisconsin-Parkside on Saturday. They beat the Huskies at Kearly Stadium on Oct. 5, 2-1.

They are led offensively by senior defender Grace Sampson, who has two goals and two assists, and junior forward Katherine Welch, who also has two goals and two assists.

Three other Bulldogs, senior forward Haley Buckman, sophomore midfielder Natalia Leavens, and senior defender Bella Vallone, all have two goals each.

Scouting the Lakers

The Grand Valley State Lakers are 10-2 overall and 7-1 in GLIAC play after a weekend that saw them lose to Wisconsin-Parkside on Friday, 1-0, and then bounce back with a 2-0 win over Roosevelt. They defeated the Huskies earlier this season on Sunday, Sept. 28, 4-1 in a game that was 2-1 with just minutes left before the Lakers put the game out of reach.

Sophomore forward Sarah Fromme leads the team in scoring with six goals and 14 points. Her goal total is twice that of freshman forward Ivy Wilhelm, who has three goals and four assists.

Junior forward Alli French has had a great season with four goals through 12 games.

Freshman keeper Macie Hunter has been very good in her eight starts, going 8-1 with a 0.24 goals against average and a .846 save percentage.

Game times

The Huskies and Bulldogs will face off Friday at 1 p.m. in Big Rapids. Sunday, the Huskies and Lakers are set to start at 1 p.m. in Allendale.