The Muskies and LumberJills meet for the second straight year after just meeting for the first time last year. Northland edged Lakeland 1-0 on its home field in Ashland, Wis., just under a year ago on Sept. 3, 2022, as Izzy Haverkampf scored the match's lone with just over three minutes left before halftime. An evenly played game saw Northland with a slim 9-8 edge in shot attempts, and Haley Rich made five saves in goal for the Muskies while Eysabeth Lough made four saves for the shutout for the LumberJills.

About Lakeland: The Muskies enter a new season after finishing 5-13 overall last year and 1-11 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. Lakeland started the season well winning three of its first four games, with the 3-1 start tying for the best start through four matches in program history and the best start since 2001. The Muskies also added a conference win over Rockford and a win over conference rival Alverno that counted as a non-conference win last season with the Inferno excluded from the conference standings.

Lakeland returns nine of 11 starters from last year's young team, with only defender Riley Jahnke and goalkeeper Haley Rich departed. The team returns its top four scorers and players who accounted for 20 of the squad's 22 goals, including Alondra Reyes (7 goals, 1 assist for 15 points) and Hanna Brouch (5 goals, 2 assists, 12 points) plus Jenna Caterino (2 goals, 2 assists, 6 points). The team also features five seniors, including Alondra Reyes and twin sister Marlen Reyes, Aimee Hild, Ellie Rau and Faith Turley.

About Northland: The LumberJills come down from the far reaches of Northern Wisconsin and are coming off a 4-10-4 season last year. Northland also finished 3-7-4 in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference, including two wins over North Central (Minn.) and another over Crown (Minn.) plus three scoreless ties. Goalkeeper Elysabeth Lough was one of the top keepers in the UMAC and was a second team all-conference selection, and defender Kristen Vensland also was named an honorable mention all-UMAC pick.

The LumberJills-the school's men's teams are known as the LumberJacks-return six starters from last year's team. The leading returning scorer is Greta Keffer (3 goals, 1 assist, 7 points), while Clara Schmiesing (1 goal) and Isabelle McCurry (1 goal) are the only other players who tallied a goal last year. Northland also has a new head coach in Aaron Blanchard, who was an assistant with the team the past three years and also assisted with Northland's men's team in 2020 and 2021.