Northern Michigan University’s Madison Bilbia, left, battles to gain possession against Davenport’s Ella Chatfield while the game was still scoreless in the first half of their GLIAC Tournament women’s soccer semifinal game played at the NMU Soccer Field on Friday. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

GLIAC Tournament championship: No. 3 seed Saginaw Valley State vs. No. 1 NMU, 2 p.m. Sunday, at NMU Soccer Field; Radio: Expected to be on WUPT 100.3 FM The Point

——————–

MARQUETTE — There was an upset in the semifinal round of the GLIAC Tournament in women’s soccer, but fortunately for host Northern Michigan University, it didn’t involve the Wildcats.

NMU took care of its business as the No. 1 seed by continuing its dominance in the tourney with a 4-1 victory over No. 5 Davenport at the NMU Soccer Field on Friday afternoon.

The upset occurred just before the Wildcats took the field when No. 3 Saginaw Valley State need a penalty-kick round to defeat No. 2 Grand Valley State after they played through overtime tied 1-1. The Lakers only fell a point short of NMU for first place in the GLIAC regular season.

That all means that Northern will face SVSU at 1 p.m. Sunday back at the NMU Soccer Field to decide the tournament championship and automatic conference berth into the upcoming NCAA Division II tournament.

The Wildcats entered the match riding high after a commanding 5-0 win over Michigan Tech in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, also at home, and looked to carry that momentum forward into the semis matchup.

“We knew what we had to do,” NMU forward Brooke Pietila said. “We had a kind of a target on our back, and so we came out with confidence and we got it done.”

From the opening whistle, the Wildcats asserted themselves as Justina L’Esperance broke the scoreless deadlock in just the 13th minute, heading home a perfectly placed ball from Madison Bilbia to give NMU an early 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats maintained steady pressure throughout the half, controlling possession and dictating the pace.

Davenport struggled to generate quality chances, with NMU’s defense and freshman goalkeeper Sally Patton shutting down every play really before they were even able to begin.

Though Northern had opportunities to extend its lead, including a clever shot by Pietila that narrowly missed, the Cats entered halftime with the slim one-goal advantage.

Assistant coach Natalie Stampfly praised her team’s early execution while noting room for improvement.

“We came in and got one early, which is really great, but then we kind of lost a little of what we were trying to do,” she said. “Credit to Davenport as well, they were running through us.

“At halftime, we talked about possessing the ball more and sticking to our game plan.”

The Wildcats heeded their coaches’ advice and wasted no time building on the lead to open the second half. Less than three minutes in, Bilbia found the net on a perfectly placed pass from Molly Pistorius, doubling NMU’s edge.

Davenport tried to push back, but NMU’s defense remained impenetrable. The Wildcats continued to dominate possession, and Pietila capitalized in the 65th minute with a sharp finish in front of the net off a pass from Pistorius to make it 3-0.

Sami Brown added Northern’s final goal in the 82nd minute, burying a loose ball after a free kick to make it a four-goal game.

While Davenport managed to break through late with a goal from Izabelle Olsson less than 90 seconds later, it was too little, too late as the Wildcats cruised.

The Wildcats turn their focus to Sunday’s championship game against Saginaw Valley.

“We’re going to celebrate tonight, we’ll let the win sink in,” Pietila said. “Don’t let the highs get too high and then we come back (Sunday).”

Caden Sierra can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 551. His email address is csierra@nmu.edu.