After a hot start with back-to-back wins, the Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team and new head coach, Jim Conlon, continue to add to the win category with a 5-2 victory over Northwest Missouri State.

The team traveled to Missouri for a weekend of non-conference pool play, and after such a long road trip, Conlon is happy with the turnout.

“I think the women are taking every adjustment that we make,” Conlon said. “They are really implementing it. I think a lot of the credit goes to the team that is working selflessly for each other and making the adjustments and doing what’s asked of them.”

The Lakers opened up the scoring in the first half with a goal from senior forward, Catie Baron, and an assist from the senior defender, Cecilia Steinwascher, in the 32-minute mark of play to put the Lakers up 1-0. Shortly after, Steinwascher found the back of the net on a penalty kick in the 41 minutes mark to extend the lead 2-0.

In the second half of play, the Lakers continued to put their foot on the gas with a goal from sophomore forward, Kennedy Bearden, putting the Lakers up 3-0. The Bearcats didn’t want to go down easily and cut the lead to two in the 63-minute mark, making it 3-2. The Lakers quickly answered with a goal just five minutes later from redshirt sophomore, Chantel Carranza, giving the lakers a three-goal cushion once again.

The Lakers scoring was capped off by freshman forward, Alicia White, in the 71-minute mark of play, making it 5-1 in the Lakers’ favor. The game’s last goal came from the Bearcats in the 79-minute mark, but it was too late to make a comeback, and the no. 3 ranked Lakers are now 3-0 for the season.

After a long road trip, Conlon was more than pleased with how his women handled it and attacked the Friday matchup.

“Obviously, you have to manage the long road trip,” Conlon said. “I thought we did a good job taking care of our bodies and making sure we stayed mentally tuned in on what the objective is for the trip. The players put together a great performance; that Northwest side was a very good side, and I think we were able to play a good back-and-forth game and find the back of the net on occasions that really swung the momentum in our way.”

Although they’re coming off a win, the weekend is not over as the number three Lakers will have a Division II top ten matchup on Sunday, Sept. 12 against number seven ranked Central Missouri, but Conlon and the Lakers are ready for the test.

“We expect Central to be a very good team,” Conlon said. “They’re the host of this four-team pool that we are playing in, and we expect them to be a formidable opponent. They looked good yesterday in their match against Minnesota State. We are looking to just come out here and continue executing what we have been doing to finish the learning process in the non-conference play as we get into GLIAC play.”

On their day off before the matchup, Conlon said that it’s going to be a lot of making sure his team’s minds and bodies are regenerated for their matchup on Sunday.

“Today [Saturday, Sept. 11] is really focused on body recovery and study time,” Conlon said. “There is a lot of study table, personal, and academic time put into today while they regen their bodies.”

The Lakers will hope to continue their win streak on Sunday, Sept. 12, in their ‘far from home’ matchup against a top ten opponent in Central Missouri, hopefully returning to Michigan maintaining that perfect record.