Northern State 4 Wayne State 3

            Despite tying a season-high three goals on the day, the Wildcats saw themselves on the wrong side of the scoresheet, falling 4-3 to Northern State in NSIC action on Sunday afternoon. The hosts moved to 7-6-1 (5-5-1 NSIC) on the season while the Wildcats fell to 3-9-1 with a 3-7-1 mark in the conference.
            Northern State created an early advantage only seven minutes in. An initial shot from Northern State's Emily Reiten rebounded off a defender to her foot again as she made no mistake the second time asking. The Wolves' lead doubled only five minutes later, an effort off the crossbar of the goal landing to Reiten, who turned it in for her second goal of the game.
            The Wildcats responded in the 16^th minute behind the foot of Megan Schuster. Her first goal on the year cut the deficit to one with an assist from Christina Stasi. Northern State responded late in the half. A scramble in the box after a corner kick unluckily found its way in the back of the Wildcat goal off a defender to put the Wolves up 3-1 going into half.
            16 shots were recorded in a busy first half, with Northern State holding a 9-7 advantage, who also led the way with a 5-3 corner kick advantage. Alyssa Bagley recorded one save in the first half before handing the reigns to Rachel Grisham.
            Only a minute into the second half, the Wildcats again found the back of the net to narrow the deficit to one in the 47^th minute. Christina Stasi fired a shot in from the top of the box for her second goal of the season, giving life to the Wildcats.
            Northern State retaliated only minutes later after the ref gave a penalty to the Wolves, who again increased their advantage to 4-2.
            Despite outshooting Northern State 13-6 in the second half, the Wildcats were unable to break through until the 85^th minute through Carleigh Wilson for her first goal of the season, assisted by Schuster. The goal pushed the Wolves on their heels for the last five minutes as the Wildcats produced two saves out of the Northern State keeper. The Wildcats were unable to complete a comeback to force overtime as the ref blew for fulltime, forcing the Wildcats to head home with no points.
            Megan Phillips led the Wildcats in shots with four, while Stasi and Samantha Phillips both recorded three shots. Grisham recorded two saves in the second half, while Bagley finished with one. The Wildcats as a team out-shot the Wolves 20-15, including a 10-7 advantage in shots on goal.
            "This weekend was tough," commented head coach Joe Cleary. "We were really shorthanded, but the players that were on the trip fought so hard and played well. They deserved more than they got this weekend."
            Wayne State returns home for a 3 p.m. contest against Bemidji State on Friday, October 19^th before hosting Minnesota Crookston for Parent's Day on 1 p.m. Sunday, October 21^st.