On the heels of 20-2-3 season that saw the Lakers playing in the semifinal game, the team kicked off their spring soccer season with a 1-0 win over Loyola University.

“I think it was a typical spring game,” said head coach David DiIanni. “It was the first for both teams so there were moments of very good play and moments of looking at things where we need to get better, and then moments where we just have to improve on things. I think the first half was very even in terms of possessions and opportunities and I think as the second half rolled on, Loyola played very well for about 20 minutes and had a lot of chances, but we weathered the storm and then I thought we did a nice job of defending in front of our goal.”

With spring soccer just beginning, DiIanni is looking to get his young players some experience to help translate into success next year.

“For us right now, this is a really good opportunity for us to give some of our younger players experience, so we can start figuring out roles and responsibilities and positions amongst the players in our program,” DiIanni said. “We are very young up top. We play all freshmen except for one sophomore, so it’s a great opportunity to let them play and get game experience.”

Following last season, the Lakers will be trying to fill the holes left by first-team All-American goalie Chelsea Parise, forward Alyssa Mira, forward Kayla Addison, and forward Ashley Botts who were all lost to graduation.

While there are more questions than answers at this point in the spring season, senior defender Autumn Jacobs felt the team played pretty well overall.

“I think we started off a little rocky being the first game of the spring, but as the game went on we definitely got better,” Jacobs said. “In the second half there was about 15 or 20 minutes where the other team had a bunch of corner kicks, but we played scrappy and didn’t let them get a goal.”

One of the areas where the Lakers hope to continue to build chemistry is on the defensive side.

“We were pretty composed in the back and then in the second half we had a lot of good moments and good build-ups and then we finished that one goal and a win is a win,” said defender Katie Woolley. “There were some rocky moments, but a win is a win, which is good. I think we played pretty well.”

Although the spring season is only five games long, DiIanni is going to use this time to evaluate his roster and figure out who should be where.

“I think what we would like to use the spring for is to determine and evaluate each position and player on our roster based on how they can contribute to the program, who they can contribute to playing at a level where we can hopefully when the GLIAC and regional championship,” DiIanni said.

The Lakers next home spring soccer game will be held on March 29 versus Davenport University at 6:00 p.m.
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