CALEDONIA, Mich. - Thanks to Natalia Casiello's first goal of the season in the 51st minute against No. 23 Northern Michigan on Sunday, Davenport women's soccer tied (or beat) a ranked opponent for the first time in over four years. The Panthers also made it five-straight matches without being beaten to sit at 3-3-4 overall and 2-1-3 in GLIAC play. Next up, DU will begin a three-match road trip with No. 7 Grand Valley State on Friday at 7 p.m. in Allendale.

Casiello's third career goal came on a breakaway after she made a move to get around her defender just outside the box and deposited the ball into the lower left corner. That shot was one of six overall and two on goal for Davenport, the other on target coming from Kylee Winn near the end of the first half. On the other side, Northern Michigan was held to one goal for just the second time this season (second in a row) and entered this week third in the country in total scores with 32.

With that being said, Gabriana Bennecke had her work cut out for herself in goal and stepped up to the challenge. Bennecke made six saves on 17 shots faced, the second-highest total she's seen this season after the 18 she saw at Tiffin on September 2. For the fall, Bennecke's goals against average is at 1.00, which is good for fourth in the league, and her save percentage of 77.8 is tied for second.

The Panthers' other four shots came from Casiello, Haley Diekevers, Aida Holihan, and Sarah Possett. Davenport snapped a two-match skid to Northern Michigan and tied or beat the Wildcats at home for the first time since 2018.

Story by: Cooper Weidenthaler