Huskies soccer looks to build off best weekend of the season
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HOUGHTON -- Coming into last weekend, the Michigan Tech Huskies soccer team seemed to be destined for a winless season. They were 0-10-1 through their first 11 games, and had only scored two goals, one of which was an own-goal by their opponent.
Then came Friday night. The Huskies, who had played to a 1-1 draw with Roosevelt earlier this season, scored in the last minute of the first half, then struck again late in the last six minutes of the second half to earn their first win of the season, 2-0, over those same Lakers.
They followed that effort up with another 1-1 draw, this time with the Purdue Northwest Lions.
"It was a good weekend, right? Undefeated weekend. Would have liked to get a win out of Sunday’s game, but I’ll take a tie," said Huskies coach Melissa Kuhar. "The girls after the game said, 'Man, we scored more goals than we gave up.' And I was like, 'Yeah, it’s a good feeling, right?' But, Friday’s game was awesome. That’s the team that we’ve kind of been trying to find this whole season. Put some goals in the back of the net, one right before half, which was awesome. Then Sunday did kind of the same, but didn’t play our best, but we're capable of getting a result even when we don’t play our best, and the girls realize that."
Kuhar believes that her team built real confidence from finally breaking through.
"We have to keep grinding, and keep going," she said. "But, it was a good weekend. A lot of confidence was built this weekend."
Kuhar said the locker room and the sidelines felt different.
"I think there was a different energy," she said. "We had conversations leading into the weekend of like, 'Hey, we have to do it. We have to do it now. We’re running out of time to produce some wins.' So, there was just kind of that different confidence to it.
"Then, when we scored, it was just, as I said, the floodgates were going to start opening. We’re going to start getting better chances. That’s what happened. So, I think it was just the girls kind of had the belief, and the kind of like they were over the losing. It hit a point where they’re like, 'We’re done with this.'"
Sophomore midfielder Karli Koskinen scored the Huskies' first goal Friday, and she had an assist on the second goal, which was scored by senior midfielder Reilly Lovercheck. Koskinen has the second-most shot attempts of any Michigan Tech player this season.
"It’s very nice," said Kuhar. "She came off the bench and did it for us. It wasn’t like she was a starter in that game. Friday, she came off the bench, and had a huge impact right away.
"It’s good for her. She’s battling a little tweak of an injury that she’s kind of had all year, and for her to push through, and then really be able to get the results and reap some reward out of that, was awesome."
Sunday's goal was scored by senior defender Havanah Brockington, who, as a fourth-year player, is finally healthy during the season. The goal was the first of her career.
"All those injuries for her in her first three years here all came with that goal," said Kuhar. "It kind of was that sigh of relief. Her reaction was one of just pure excitement. She ripped that ball. There’s not a lot of people that can hit that well-of-a-placed ball into the corner like that.
"She jokes and I let her go up forward attacking mid-kind of vibe. I get to release her is what she tells me. She’s great on the back line for us. She’s an awesome defender. But, it’s nice to kind of throw her up top, and kind of let her just run around. She has the energy. To score off of it, now I have to question where I put her on the field. She’s making my job hard."
Scouting the Wildcats
This Sunday, the Huskies have just one opponent, their rivals from 100 miles down the road, the Northern Michigan Wildcats. The Wildcats come into this weekend 7-3-3 overall and 4-3-2 in GLIAC play after playing to a draw with Purdue Northwest, 0-0, and then defeating Roosevelt, 4-0. The Wildcats beat the Huskies on Sunday, Oct. 4, by a score of 4-0.
"Our girls are not happy about how the game here against Northern went," Kuhar said. "Reality is 30, 38 seconds was the difference between us being in that game, and the giving up those two quick goals in the first half. So, there’s some rage there. Our team’s kind of upset, kind of annoyed. They want that revenge."
Senior forward Madison Bilbia leads the Wildcats in scoring with four goals and 11 points. Sophomore forward Addison Frantti leads the team in goals (5), but has no assists. The same is true for freshman midfielder Sole Corley, who has four goals and eight points.
Redshirt sophomore Carly Sides is 7-3-3 with a 1.0 goals against average and a .790 save percentage.
Game time
The Huskies and Wildcats will meet Sunday in Marquette at 12 p.m.