Senior defender Megan Brown said she and her teammates who didn’t have class Monday night met to hear their placement in the tournament and learn of the teams they could potentially face among the field of 48 schools.

“The first round of regionals will be on (tonight) and we’ll all go out and watch that game,” Brown said. “We will play the winner (Saturday).”

GVSU will be the host venue of both the first and second round games. The Lakers (18-0-2, 15-0 GLIAC) will await the winner of the first round match between the No. 4 Quincy University and No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The rival teams are two of five teams representing the GLVC in the six-team Midwest region this year.

The Lakers have been acquainted with both the Eagles of Quincy (15-4-2, 11-4-0 GLVC) and the Rangers of University of Washington-Parkside (12-3-2, 11-2-2 GLVC) in recent years. GVSU faced Quincy in both non-conference games and in the postseason and are 4-0 against the Eagles since 2007.

Senior midfielder Erin Mruz said it can be both good and bad knowing their potential opponents.

“From what I’ve heard so far, Parkside is like they’ve been in the past … very organized defensively, and they have strong forwards that their entire attack goes through,” she said. “Quincy is a little different this year than before … They are very athletic and they haven’t given up many goals this season.”

Mruz said the Lakers haven’t encountered as strong of a defensive line from Quincy as it had in past years. No matter who their opponent this weekend, however, Mruz said her team should expect a challenge.

“Both are very good teams, so our game Sunday will be difficult, no matter who wins the game (tonight),” Mruz said.

University of Washington-Parkside has reached the NCAA Tournament four times in their history and are 2-2 against the Lakers. GVSU’s most recent defeat to the Rangers came in 2008 in a 1-0 second-round loss.

No. 3 Bellarmine University (15-2-3, 12-2-1 GLVC) will play No. 6 Rockhurst University (12-4-2, 10-3-2 GLVC) in the other first round match for a chance to face the no. 2 seed Northern Kentucky University (15-1-2, 12-1-1 GLVC) in Highland Heights, Ky.

“Our region is really tough, this year especially, so we have to make sure we stay focused and take it one game at a time,” Mruz said.

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