The Grand Valley State lacrosse team split a weekend road trip with a Friday, April 7, victory over the Findlay Oilers (6-6, 1-1 GLIAC) by a score of 18-17 and a loss April 9 to the Tiffin Dragons (7-3, 1-0) 14-16. The Lakers now sit at 3-7 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

The first game of the weekend started out hot with GVSU and UF trading goals from the get-go before GVSU hit a five-goal run to take a 7-2 lead ten minutes into the first half. The Lakers were poised to take a 12-7 lead into the half until the Oilers scored two quick goals as well as a goal out of the break to make it a two point spread. After getting some slight breathing room at 14-11, Findlay scored five goals in as many minutes to capture a 16-14 advantage, but the Lakers were able to grab four of the last five goals—including the game winner with 22 seconds left—to take home the win.

“It was kind of an opportunity to step up because we needed help,” said junior Meggan Loyd. “It was really giving our team what we needed and we stepped up and we saw that, especially being able to close it out with a win.”

Junior attacker Meghan Datema paced GVSU with six goals on the day while Loyd added five of her own. Freshman attacker Abbi O’Neal chipped in with three goals and four other Lakers added single goals. GVSU managed more shots on goal, ground balls and draw controls but had less saved and lost the turnover battle.

Although they came away with the victory, the Lakers felt they did not play the best lacrosse they were capable of.

“We had them on the ropes and didn’t put our foot on the gas. We had to show some resiliency. I called a timeout when, I believe, it was tied, we had an opportunity to score and I told them that this will define our season,” said GVSU coach Alicia Groveston. “We can handle our business and they really did fight. We didn’t get a great first shot off, but we fought. We got very fortunate where the goalie was out of the cage due to a foul and we were able to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Unfortunately for GVSU, they were unable to carry the momentum of their second straight win into Tiffin.

The Dragons opened the game scoring seven of the first 11 goals and carried an 8-6 advantage into the half. In the second, each team scored on and off until Tiffin’s lead was 11-8, but the Lakers showed their toughness and scored five straight to lead 13-11. Unfortunately for GVSU, Tiffin scored five of the last six to finish the match.

“They scored more than we did. We didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities we had. They won the 50/50 balls. There were momentum swings,” Groveston said. “We wanted insurance goals but it is what it is. Losing in conference is not something we want to get used to so this is something to give us motivation.”

The trio of Loyd, Datema and freshman Sarah Stagaard scored four goals each while two other Lakers scored one each. Senior Chelsey Bishop handed out three assists. Both teams were even in shots on goal, though GVSU took more shots total and had less turnovers than their counterparts. However, Tiffin won more ground balls and draw controls.

“We started out strong and just got a little lax during it. We needed to put our foot on the gas pedal. Tiffin capitalized when we weren’t going our hardest,” Datema said. “We needed to play a more aggressive game and keep up with them on that. We’re ready to work harder than ever. This loss happened last year too and we were very focused after. We’re ready to come back and beat them when it counts in the GLIAC tournament and that’s our mission now.”

The Lakers’ season continues when the Northern Michigan Wildcats (2-9, 0-3) visit Allendale Saturday, April 15.