Headline: GV rolls Malone, Tiffin in pair of 5-0 wins

Subhead: No. 3 Lakers have outscored last four opponents 22-0

By Jay Bushen, Adam Knorr

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The Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team has begun to hit its stride – and that’s bad news for the rest of the GLIAC.

GVSU thrashed Malone University in a 5-0 tilt at home on Friday, and followed up the thorough victory with another 5-0 thumping at Tiffin University on Sunday. GVSU moves to 9-1 (5-0 GLIAC) with the wins.

“I’m proud of the girls,” said coach Jeff Hosler. “It’s tough to play three games in five days both physically and emotionally, and I thought they did a good job managing those areas throughout. It gives us confidence going forward.”

It was a chilly, blustery night in Allendale as the Lakers took the field against a struggling Malone squad (1-7-0, 0-5-0 GLIAC) on Friday – and the Pioneers were outmatched from the outset.

GVSU dominated from start to finish against Malone, setting a school record with 53 shots – 16 of which found the net. In contrast, the Lakers only surrendered three total shots against. Freshman Gabriella Mencotti tallied her seventh goal of the season from 20 yards out just 12 minutes into the match, and GVSU never looked back.

Dani Johnson fired in a screamer from just outside the box with 15 minutes remaining in the half to give the Lakers a 2-0 lead and, less than four minutes later, senior Juane Odendaal cleaned up a cross from Kendra Stauffer along the back post to put GVSU up 3-0.

Little changed in the second half. Defender Kaely Schlosser notched her first goal of the season and Sara Stevens added a goal in the 79th minute to give GVSU its ultimate 5-0 lead. Odendaal and Schlosser, both defenders, certainly helped GVSU showcase the depth of its firepower with their scores from the back line.

“Things feel like they’re clicking,” Schlosser said. “We have a lot to work on too. We’re going to face tougher opponents going forward…We need to focus a little bit more on our finishing.”

Senior goalkeeper Andrea Strauss earned her eighth win of the season, stopping both shots she faced to finish out her fifth clean sheet of the fall campaign.

Strauss’ sixth shutout of the season was by far the easiest.

The Lakers did not surrender a single shot at Tiffin, and peppered the Dragons with 19 shots on goal in the rout.

“We did a good job knocking the ball around today and creating chances,” Hosler said. “Our attack in wide areas was probably the best it’s been all week. Defensively, we were very organized.

“Defensively, Schlosser was really good today organizing play and was a great ball winner.”

Offensively, GVSU was impressive again. The Lakers racked up 31 shots – 19 of which were on net – and got on the scoreboard just five minutes into the match.

Midfielder Gabbie Guibord struck first on a cross from Marti Corby, then forward Katie Bounds kept her hot streak going with back-to-back goals in a three-minute span to give GVSU a 3-0 edge just before the break.

In the second half, Mencotti extended her streak of games with a goal to five with a tally in the 52nd minute, and Corby tacked on the fifth and final goal by banging home a cross in the 69th minute.

“We did very well as a team,” Bounds said of the 3-0 week. “We’ve had a lot of goals and no goals against us. We followed through, we worked well with each other and we had a lot of energy and our end result met our goal.

“I’m very proud of my team. We worked hard to get where we are, and we’ve got to keep working. Our mentality, work ethic and energy are the reason why we’re winning so we just have to keep that up.”

The Lakers can push their win streak to seven games with a victory at Northwood University on Friday at 2 p.m.