After an uncharacteristic tie in the opening series of the season, the Grand Valley State women’s soccer team swept a two-game series in Minnesota. The Lakers trounced St. Cloud State 8-0 and beat Minnesota State-Mankato 4-1.

The Lakers opened up the scoring early Friday against St. Cloud State. Kendra Stauffer scored the first two goals of the game within the first 20 minutes. Senior Jayma Martin followed Stauffer with two goals of her own in less than five minutes of play.

“In California we created a lot of chances but didn’t capitalize. That came back and bit us last Sunday,” said GVSU coach Jeff Hosler. “Right from the opening start on Friday, our first great scoring chance, (Kendra) scores. Really the first three great scoring chances we had in the game we scored.”

GVSU continued to capitalize on scoring chances in the first half. Martin buried two more in the back of the net, giving her four goals on the game. Gabriella Mencotti got in on the scoring action with her first goal of the season. The Lakers went into half time with a 7-0 lead.

“This week (in practice), we really harped on finishing and not settling for shots and scoring,” Mencotti said.

The Lakers finished the game with eight goals, much more than the GVSU defense would need. The defense stymied the Huskies’ offense, holding them to only two shots on goal.

In the second game of the series, GVSU matched up with Minnesota State-Mankato, the No. 18 ranked team in the nation. The Lakers’ defense was effective yet again, holding the Stompers’ offense to four shots on goal.

“The defensive effort was fantastic,” Hosler said. “Minnesota State has had one of the top offenses in the country the past two years in goals scored and total points.”

The Lakers’ offense continued to put points on the board, scoring twice in the first half. Mencotti initiated the scoring with a goal after 20 minutes of play. Stauffer added one more goal at the half to give GVSU a 2-0.

The Stompers came out pressing in the second half, but the Lakers kept their composure and scored a third goal seven minutes into the second half. Mencotti scored her second goal of the game on a rebound attempt after a shot from Marti Corby was saved by the Mankato goalie.

“We talked about at halftime, whoever scores the next goal is really going to turn the tables,” Mencotti said. “We talked about how we needed to get the next goal in order to set them back on their heels and discourage them from coming back at us.”

The Lakers kept the foot on the gas and finished the 90 minutes with a 4-1 win.

“These were big games for us, and for us to come out here and get the results we did was really great,” Martin said. “We’re just hoping we can go into this week, have good practices and have it translate into the weekend.”

The Lakers will have their first home series of the season Friday, Sept. 16 and Sunday, Sept. 18 against Saginaw Valley State and Ohio Dominican.