The Sunday afternoon matchup between the Grand Valley State University women’s lacrosse team and the Findlay University Oilers was never in question as the Lakers dismantled the Oilers defense from start to finish in a 17-2 victory.

“This was exactly what we needed,” said senior Allyson Fritz. “I’m really proud of our team, because when we need to come together, we really produce as a whole.”

Led by Fritz who has scored eight goals in the past two games, the Lakers got off to a hot start, scoring nearly a goal per minute in the first ten minutes of the game, as the score was 7-0 with 20 minutes remaining on the clock.

“Findlay is going through the same program-building struggles that we went through when we first started off,” said head coach Alicia Groveston. “I thought we got after it from the start, which was exactly what we needed to do in this game.”

Sophomores Rachel Leibovitz, Victoria Devine, and freshman Taylor Bierwagen each scored two goals for the Lakers in the first half. The blowout in particular provided a great opportunity for some of the younger players to get some shots in as well.

“We moved the ball around great and didn’t force anything,” Leibovitz said. “It was also good for us to work on all of our plays and to also get everyone in the game.”

The advantage was clearly in favor of the Lakers in the first half as they took 24 shots compared to only five shots for Findlay. Another glaring stat in the first half was the turnover ratio, as the Lakers only committed five while they forced the Oilers into 13.

“Defense did a great job today,” Leibovitz said. “We pressured the ball really well and just kept attacking the entire game.”

The win gives GVSU a perfect 2-0 start in the GLIAC, which is the innagural season for the conference to have women’s lacrosse.

“Our defense really came together and our communication was there today, which is a necessity if we are going to stop the ball,” Fritts said. “It’s definitely a big reason to our early success in the GLIAC so far.”

This blowout couldn’t have come to much surprise to anyone as the Lakers really haven’t played in a close game since their first game of the season which resulted in a 13-12 overtime loss to Assumption College back on March 4. Only one other game has been within three goals, which raises the question of whether or not GVSU will be ready to play in close games down the stretch.

“Not playing in too many close games so far this season may cause some concern, but certainly not enough to where we need to put extra focus on it,” Groveston said. “As we continue to improve and play with more confidence, that will become less of an issue.”

GVSU next plays Alderson-Broaddus College on Friday, before they face a pair of GLIAC foes back-to-back featuring Tiffin University and Walsh University.

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