For the second straight week, the Grand Valley State men’s club soccer team exits a weekend with a 1-1 record. After trouncing Central Michigan 6-0 in the opener, the Lakers fell to Michigan State 1-0 in the finale at home on Sunday.

GVSU opened the weekend with a commanding victory over CMU on Saturday.

The Lakers wasted no time lighting up the score board. In the second minute, midfielder Paul Bump scored on a header off of a throw-in near the corner.

“We set it up just like a corner, I was able to get a little flick on it and it snuck right through the goalie’s hands,” Bump said.

With another scoring opportunity in the 11^th minute, midfielder Griffon Dean netted a goal off of a bobbled cross from the Chippewa goalie.

GVSU finished the half with a 3-0 lead after a goal from Casey Hagan. The goal came off of a rebound after a save made by the CMU keeper.

The Chippewas came out firing in the second half. Their best scoring opportunity of the game came in the 55^th minute, as a shot from outside the box banged off the crossbar.

Possession was the key to the Lakers victory Saturday afternoon. The defense kept the ball outside of scoring distance for the CMU offense for most of the game.

“Just as long as we played smart and kept the ball we were going to be in good shape,” said GVSU head coach Jeff Crooks.

The Lakers finished the second half with three more goals – two coming from team captain Robert Klein.

Unlike Saturday’s game, the Lakers’ offense struggled in the first half of Sunday’s game. MSU held the Lakers to very few scoring opportunities in the first half.

In the 29^th minute, Michigan State scored on a free kick from outside the box. The 30-yard kick floated over goaltender David Bump’s head. That was the lone goal that David allowed in the weekend series.

Despite the goal, David still commanded the team. He was vocal, yelling out where the ball should go and where the opposing team was positioned.

“It’s something that goalies should be doing,” he said. “We (goalies) see all of the field. We need to be talking to our players at all times.”

The Laker offense started to put pressure on the Michigan State defense in the second half. The offense had scoring opportunities in the 52^nd, 65^th and 69^th minutes. The Spartan goalie made a few diving saves to protect the MSU’s one-goal lead.

In the final minute of play, the Lakers pushed for one last attempt to tie the game. Midfielder Russell Reichenbach sent a cross into the box that the Michigan State defense cleared.

Now with a 2-2 record, the Lakers need to make a serious run to make the playoffs.

“We have to win every single game in conference to make the playoffs,” Crooks said.

Crooks did not seem too worried about how the team will perform moving forward.

“If we play every game like this, we’ll win all the rest of our games,” he said.

The Lakers will look to rebound next weekend at home in a three-game set. GVSU will play Michigan Tech on Sept. 19 and Northern Michigan and Saginaw Valley State on Sept. 20 – all on home turf.