The players on the Grand Valley State University women’s club ice hockey team have had 12 days off to reflect on what has been a record-damaging 2014 portion of the season so far.

GVSU (12-7) will attempt back-to-back wins against the University of Michigan at home this weekend after dropping three of four games thus far in the month of January — a stretch that dropped the team into seventh place in the ACHA Division I standings.

GVSU most recently dropped a two-game set against Michigan State University, which now holds the sixth-place spot, just two points more than the Lakers have accumulated.

The Lakers may have been swept, but they skated well in the series and hope their performance will carry over into the bout with the Wolverines — and beyond.

“We’ve been playing well and we want to take out all our frustration on Michigan and Robert Morris,” sophomore forward Karyn Schmaltz said. “We have a lot of team chemistry, and we’ve been working on our communication on the ice.”

The Lakers will have to tap into that chemistry and produce strong play with a second consecutive powerhouse coming to town. The team may have struggled to beat MSU in recent history, but it’s had Michigan’s number since the start of last season.

The teams squared off three times — twice in the regular season and once in the in the ACHA playoffs. The Lakers swept the season series, pulling out hard-fought victories in three neck-and-neck games.

The teams are held together even tighter this season, as both squads are hovering near the top of the ACHA standings.

GVSU is in seventh place with 24 points, while the Wolverines are in ninth place with 20 points. The Lakers hold a plus-53 goal differential, while Michigan is right behind with a plus-47 mark.

GVSU head coach Sean McKernan said he knows his team has the talent to take care of the Wolverines, but not without start-to-finish intensity in both games.

“We need to look to play 60 minutes, and one period at a time,” McKernan said. “We’ve proven that we are a great team and we have a lot of depth. Our freshmen and defense have stepped up big time.”

They couldn’t have picked a better time to step up.

The year-to-date schedule has not been kind to the Lakers. The team has been pinned up against the University of Massachusetts, Liberty University and Michigan State University.

“It’s definitely a tough schedule, but I feel like the schedule from our first semester helped us prepare for the bigger games that are coming up,” sophomore forward Hilary Daniels said.

GVSU will follow up the Michigan series with a clash against another top divisional rival, Robert Morris University. RMU is in third place and trails the University of Rhode Island by just two points atop the standings.

It won’t be easy, but GVSU has an opportunity to put itself in prime position to make a deep playoff run if it can rack up a few wins in its final four games.

“We’re all excited for the weekend, but we definitely want to come away with wins and prepare for the playoffs,” Daniels said.