Story Link
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech football team will be on the road for its first league games this week, taking on Purdue Northwest on Friday at 1 p.m. and first-year GLIAC affiliate school Roosevelt on Sunday at 1 p.m.
About Pride
Purdue Northwest has won three straight games, including a 2-1 victory in its GLIAC opener at Saginaw Valley State University, to improve to 4-0, 1 tie and 1-0 in league play.
The Pride averaged two goals per game, 14.8 shots on goal and eight shots on goal. Senior forward Amaris Gonzalez had a team-leading four goals and eight points for Purdue Northwest. She scored two goals in a 3-2 win over Tiffin to close out non-conference play.
Gonzalez helped the Pride go 2-0 with three goals and two game-winning goals and was named the GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week in Week 2. She ranks third nationally with three game-winning goals this season. Addison Thomas had a team-high four assists, ranking first in the league and eighth in the country.
The SVSU win was the first in program history, with junior midfielder Yoselyn Garcia recording a goal and an assist and Nayla Peña scoring the game-winner in the 57th minute.
The Pride have used two goalies in five games, with Jackson Poppy starting two and Meta Fisher starting the other two. Fisher is 3-0 as the goalie with nine saves and a 1.2 goals against average.
About the Lakers
In its first year at the Division II level, the newest GLIAC affiliate started 0-2 in league play and finished with a 0-3-2 record overall.
After drawing their first two games of the season, the Lakers have lost three straight, most recently to Ferris State (5-2) on Friday and Saginaw Valley State (2-0) on Sunday.
Forward Kira Cruickshank and midfielder Paola Macias made history by scoring Roosevelt’s first conference goals against Ferris State. Macias led the Lakers’ offense with five points on two goals and one assist. Freshman forward Cami Butler also scored a goal for Roosevelt.
Junior goalkeeper Roxy Herrera started all five of Roosevelt’s games and recorded a GLIAC-leading 35 saves while allowing just 2.2 goals against.
About the Huskies
Michigan Tech is on the road for the first time in conference play with a 3-2-0 record and 1-1 record in the GLIAC. During its home weekend, it beat Davenport, 2-1, on Friday and lost, 2-1, to nationally ranked Grand Valley State on Sunday at Kierley Stadium.
Senior forward Julia Pietila is on pace to set a career-high in goals already with four in five games. The Hartland, Michigan native had three goals over the weekend, including two against the Panthers and the game-winner in the 83rd minute, and her first goal of the game in the 12th minute against Grand Valley State, which was Michigan Tech’s first goal at home against the Lakers in 11 seasons.
Pietila is tied for first in the GLIAC with four goals (33rd nationally) and is 12th nationally with two goals.
Offensively, MTU is averaging 1.2 goals and 13.2 shots per game with Pietila leading the offense by converting 7 of 15 shots on goal. Riley Lavertsek scored the other goal for the Huskies and Taylor Noble had a team-high two assists.
Junior goalkeeper Bri Burrows has started four games this season and has three wins, one loss, two shutouts and 16 saves.
