It was weekend dominance as usual for the Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team, which beat new GLIAC member Ohio Dominican University on Sunday, 6-0.

The Lakers (5-1-1, 8-1-1 overall), piping hot ever since their loss to Northern Michigan University on Sept. 19, continued their success on home field by out shooting ODU 28-7 and spending almost the entire game on attack.

Sophomore Kayla Addison opened the scoring 18 minutes into the first half, and just six minutes later junior Erin Mruz put one in the top left corner off of a pass from sophomore Alyssa Mira to make it a 2-0 game. Mruz added her second goal of the game exactly two minutes into the second half, putting to bed any hopes of a comeback for ODU. Three additional second half goals from sophomore Erin Hilbert, senior Erika Pitroff and finally an ODU own goal closed the scoring.

ODU came into the game sporting the third best record in the GLIAC and was riding a five-game unbeaten streak before GVSU put it to an end. The Lakers still sit at second in the GLIAC behind Northern Michigan, which is undefeated in the conference at 6-0-1.

GVSU head coach Dave DiIanni said that the team’s performance was the best of the year as the Lakers are just over the halfway point of the season.

“I was really proud of our girls,” he said. “That’s a good team that we beat six to nothing. We were very opportunistic and we played for 90 minutes. We’ve had flashes of good soccer, but this was certainly our best 90 minutes thus far.”

Since the loss in mid-September, the Lakers have gone 4-0 in shutting out each opponent and scoring 19 goals, never playing a game closer than 3-0.

Hilbert said the loss to the Wildcats may benefit the team as the season progresses.

“I think (the loss) was a wakeup call,” she said. “Obviously it wasn’t a good moment, but it really did help us. We took things out of it and we learned from it, now we have to look forward and do our best to not get another loss.”

Home-field advantage has been a key component to the Lakers’ success this season as they have outscored opponents 21-0 in just five games. In fact, the Lakers haven’t allowed a goal at home since Nov. 8 of last year.

GVSU plays on the largest playing surface allowed in NCAA Division II play at 120 yards by 80 yards. The minimum size is 100 yards by 80 yards.

Laker forward Jaleen Dingledine, who notched on two assists in the second half, said the team’s conditioning is essential on such a large field.

“One of our attributes as a team is that we are so fit,” she said. “When you’re on a bigger field you can run players down, and I think that’s why we score a lot of goals in the second half.”

The Lakers will continue their homestand this Friday and Sunday as the team takes on Northwood University and Saginaw Valley State University. Friday’s game against Northwood will start at 4 p.m., and it will be a noon kick-off on Sunday against Saginaw Valley.

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