No matter the team and no matter the weather, opponents of the Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team simply have not been able to score on the Lakers at home.

As temperatures dipped into the high 30s Sunday with consistent wind gusts, the Lakers locked up their 13th home shutout this season in as many games. GVSU clung to an early Kayla Addison goal before tallying two late goals for a 3-0 win over Quincy University in the second round of the NCAA Regional tournament.

“This was just two teams trying to keep their season going,” said GVSU head coach Dave DiIanni. “Quincy is very athletic. I thought they played really well and had a good game plan, but we missed some chances to make this game easier on ourselves. Games will get tight like this as we move on, and I think it’s going to be important for us to finish our chances and make the games easier on us.”

The Lakers struck first less than 15 minutes into the game as sophomore forward Ashley Botts sent a long pass that found Addison, a senior, streaking down the left side as she picked the bottom right corner of the net to put the Lakers up 1-0.

“I saw a gap, and the goalie was all the way over, so I trusted myself to hit it with my left foot,” said Addison, who leads the Lakers with 18 goals on the season. “I’m really not comfortable with my left foot, but my coaches keep telling me to use it. As the shot was going, I thought it was going to hit the post and bounce out, so it was complete relief after it bounced off and went in.”

The game remained at 1-0 until the 80th minute when senior forward Jaleen Dingledine scored to seal the win for GVSU, and Botts added her third playoff goal five minutes later for insurance.

The Lakers wrapped up their 13th shutout in as many chances at home but spent the majority of the first half defending in their own zone.

The two halves were separated mainly by the wind with Addison’s goal just one of two first half shots on target for GVSU. The Lakers were on defense in the first half as they played into the 30 mph gusts, but their offense and defense opened up with the wind at their back in the second.

“We had to play the short ball in the back because you can’t play the long ball into the wind,” said goalkeeper Chelsea Parise. “Our defense had really good vision of looking for the diagonal ball to the forwards. That was really important, to keep connected, play the short ball and make good passes.”

GVSU will take on the winner of the Northern Kentucky University-Wisconsin-Parkside University match that was played later on Sunday. The Lakers will be at home on Friday.

DiIanni said GVSU is not too concerned about which team they will face.

“It doesn’t matter really who we play,” he said. “At this point, we’re moving on. We’re excited play another weekend, and we’re a little closer to a regional title.”

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