Northland College LumberJills lost a close one at home to the visiting Lions of Finlandia University. The Lions scored late in the first half and carried the one goal lead to earn the win 1-0.

Northland College and Finlandia met at Ponzio Stadium on Tuesday night for a non-conference women's soccer matchup. The LumberJills, playing their third game in six days and coming off their first win, looked to control the pace of the game early. However, it was the Lions that were able to create offensive pressure right away. Finlandia fired eleven shots and earned six corner kicks in the first half. Elysabeth Lough (SO, Las Vegas, Nev.) was back in net for the Jills. She was able to make seven saves in the half and finished the contest with nine. Finlandia's substitute-forward Anaya Arretche squeked the lone goal by Lough in the game's 39th minute to give the Lions the 1-0 halftime lead.

The second half was more balanced with each team taking four shots. The LumberJills' best opportunity came on their lone corner kick of the half. Liberty Dickerson (SO, Bemidji, Minn.) sent the corner into the box near the penalty line where it found Greta Keffer (SO, St. Paul, Minn.). She couldn't quite get the shot off before the Lions defense cleared it to the top of the box. Verenice Becerril-Gonzalez was right there for the put-back shot, but she hit it high. Freshman Madie Linka (Somerset, Wis.) came close to knotting the game in the 66th minute when she got a rebound off a blocked cross at the top of the box and hit a curving shot just wide.

"Both teams have played a lot of soccer in the last six days," said Head Coach Dan Dubois. "Whichever team came out with more energy tonight was going to be more successful and, unfortunately, they had more. We are a young team that needs to match energy and intensity in games like this. This is a learning opportunity for our players to have more confidence when playing physical teams. The best thing about early season games are the teachable moments they provide. We have many more games this season and need to use these games to continue to get better as we head towards conference play."

The LumberJills (1-2, 0-0 UMAC) will be back at Ponzio Stadium on Saturday as they take on UW-River Falls. Kickoff is set for 3:00 PM.

Northland College is an NCAA Division III institution located in Ashland, WI. The LumberJacks and LumberJills sponsor 14 varsity sports and compete in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, Midwest Lacrosse Conference and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.