The Northland College Women's Soccer team hosted alumni of the program over the weekend for the first Alumni Game since COVID-19. A handful of former players showed up to see the new look LumberJills for this season and compete in a short (30 minutes per half) full-field scrimmage.

This scrimmage marked just the second day of preseason practice and the first time the current team has played full-field together. 

"Overall, it was a great day," stated Head Coach Dan Dubois. "I was very happy to have the alums back. It gave us a great preview of our current roster against someone other than ourselves, and it allowed them to see former players who really care about our program. We have been back for preseason just a couple days, so it was a positive experience for the players to learn each other on the field with minimal direction." The Jills were able to score a couple goals in the first half, one of which was scored by Verenice Becerril-Gonzalez (So., Lakeville, Minn.) coming off a corner kick. "Corners and other set pieces have not been covered yet, so it was very nice to see the communication and execution today."

Although the Alumni were short in numbers, they were not short in historical fire-power. Three time All-UMAC award winner and former team MVP, Anne Kriskovich (2008), All-Time saves leader, Brittany Ballwanz (2008), Amanda Snow (nee Seely) (2010), who is first on the All-Time assists leaderboard, as well as four time UMAC All-Sportmanship award winner Coriander Dehlin (2022) all showed up to compete. Kriskovich, now a high school athletic director, spoke about the experience. "The opportunity to come back was amazing. There is an intergenerational connection between those of us that came before and the current roster, and it is important to be able to share our experience with them. This year's team has a lot of talent and potential coming up. I am excited to watch them compete this fall."

Dubois went on to add, "The competitiveness of the alumni was still very present. They played physical, which was good for our younger players to experience."

Junior forward Izzy Haverkampf (Rhinelander, Wis.) spoke very positive of the team's performance and the experience of playing against the alumni. "It was awesome seeing former teammates come back and getting to compete against them was a lot of fun. It was (also) nice to meet some of the other former players. Getting out there with the new players was helpful to allow us to mesh. I thought we performed well, but the competition highlighted some things we still need to work on."

The LumberJills will take the pitch next in a scrimmage against Lake Superior College on Wednesday night at home. The match will begin at 7:00 PM.