The Grand Valley State University Lakers women’s soccer team finished their regular season at home with wins against the University of Purdue-Northwest Pride and Davenport University Panthers.
GVSU dominated in both matches, outscoring their opponents by a combined 6-1 as they beat the Pride 4-1 on Sunday, Oct. 29 and the Panthers 2-1 on Thursday, Nov. 2.
Against PNW, the Lakers’ grabbed their first goal and an early lead just 43 seconds into the game from a penalty kick by sophomore defender Kacy Lauer. It was Lauer’s fourth goal this season.
Near the end of the first half, PNW’s Kaci Pampreen knocked in her fifth goal of the season, but the Lakers’ defense stifled the Pride the rest of the way.
In the second half, the Lakers took the lead by scoring three unanswered goals. The second goal of the game was by junior midfielder Ryann Fetty. It was only her second goal this season since playing at Ferris State University the week before. Junior midfielder Ella Kleiver knocked in the third and senior forward Alicia White scored the fourth goal of the game. It was White’s first tally this year.
GVSU had previously beaten them 6-1 this season, totaling 10 goals to one in the two matchups combined.
Like the Pride, GVSU swept the season against the Panthers with 2-1 wins in both of their matchups.
The Lakers got off to another fast start, scoring a goal in the first minute of the game and again 13 minutes into the game. Both goals were scored by senior forward Taylor Reid. After the game, Reid reflected on the team’s preparation for the game against Davenport.
“Just work on our craft and work on moving the ball quickly and not letting them get a touch on the ball. Just being able to deny the long ball,” Reid said.
GVSU’s strategy of playing keep-away worked for the vast majority of the game until the Panthers were able to get a goal with just 46 seconds remaining in the match. Davenport sophomore forward Haley Diekevers kept her team from putting up a goose egg, her seventh goal of the season.
The Lakers now sit at 10-2-6 overall and 8-1-5 in the conference, going 3-2-4 at home during the regular season.
GVSU is the two seed in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) with Northern Michigan University having won the regular season title.
The Lakers will face Davenport again, the seventh seed, on Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. for the GLIAC tournament’s quarterfinal. The game will take place at the GVSU Soccer Field in Allendale, Michigan.
Head Coach of the Lakers women’s soccer team Katie Hutlin explained the difficulties of playing Davenport back to back.
“Physicality alone and their style of playing has been a challenge. So we just need to make sure that we value the ball and take care of what we need to take care of,” Hultin said. “I feel pretty confident about it. We just need to get some players healthy and ready to play on Monday.”
Reid, who has scored at least one goal in every GLIAC tournament that she has played in, is looking forward to the game on Monday.
“We’re really excited. I think tournament time is where you can play your best soccer,” Reid said. “So our team is really motivated to do well and play our game. It’s always challenging to play a team back to back, but I think we can do it if we play our game.”
