GVSU swim and dive sweeps GLIAC weekly honors

After a successful weekend against Wayne State and William Jewell, members of the Grand Valley State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams were rewarded with GLIAC Athlete of the Week accolades.

GVSU sophomore Melina Goebel earned GLIAC Female Athlete of the Week accolades after collecting three first-place finishes and one second against Wayne State, while also earning three second-place finishes against Nova Southeastern and William Jewell. Goebel, who is a native of Offenbach, Germany, usually participates in all major freestyle races and some butterfly events.

On the men’s side, Moritz Bartels, a native of Germany, earned two first-place finishes in the 1,000-meter freestyle (9:45.12) and 500-meter freestyle (4:45.93) in the Lakers’ win over Wayne State to earn GLIAC Male Athlete of the Week honors. The freshman also added a second- and fourth-place finish during the team’s double dual against Nova Southeastern and William Jewell. 

GVSU men’s DII club hockey dominates in series opener over Indiana

After a long winter break, the Grand Valley State men’s Division II club hockey team returned to their home ice to face off against Indiana University at Georgetown Ice Center on Friday, Jan. 12. 

The Lakers didn’t skip a beat as they trounced the Hoosiers of Indiana by a 9-1 score to earn another win in the record books. GVSU outshot Indiana by more than double, rifling 45 shots compared to their 22. 

By the end of the first period, GVSU had already built themselves a comfortable 5-0 lead. Goals in the period came from Ryan Hein (two goals), Lucas Little, Evan Newell and Cameron Dyde. Hein added one more goal in the third period to earn the hat trick.

The Lakers found themselves up 7-0 until Indiana broke Laker goalie Jared Maddock’s shutout. Maddock finished the contest with 21 saves off 22 shots on goal. Other goal scorers for GVSU were Danny DeBlouw, Tommy Carey and Daniel Smith.

The Lakers completed the weekend series sweep with a 5-2 victory over Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 13, bringing their record to 17-3-2. Their next contest will be on the road against DePaul University on Friday, Jan. 19, and Saturday, Jan. 20, at the JIH West Arena.

GVSU men’s DIII club hockey drops weekend series to Michigan State

Coming into the winter break with a solid 23-3-0 overall record, the Grand Valley State men’s Division III club hockey team hoped to come back to the new year with the same amount of success.

However, the Michigan State Spartans spoiled the Lakers’ return, defeating GVSU 8-3 on Friday, Jan. 12, at MSU’s Munn Ice Arena and again 6-2 on Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Georgetown Ice Center.

During the first game, the Spartans tacked on four goals to start the contest, which were enough to hold their lead until the final buzzer. MSU finished with 56 shots on goal, compared to GVSU’s 35. Goal scorers for the Lakers were Alex Siroky, Ben Kowalske and Spencer Godin. Goalie Jack Lindsay recorded 48 saves on 56 shots.

The next night, the Lakers returned to their home ice in hopes of tying the weekend series, but they just couldn’t seem to get their offense clicking. MSU managed to collect a 6-2 win, scoring four goals in the final period to head back to East Lansing as weekend-series winners. Goal scorers for GVSU were Chuck Reed and Alex Siroky. Lindsay collected 39 saves in net off of 44 shots.

The DIII team will now head over to Indiana Tech in hopes of collecting their first win of 2018 on Friday, Jan. 19, at SportONE Parkview Icehouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana.