After playing their first seven games on the road, the Grand Valley State women’s lacrosse team returned to Allendale to take on a GLIAC rival on Thursday, March 29. The No. 16 Lakers took on the University of Indianapolis, the No. 8 team in Division II. The Lakers came in to this matchup looking to make a statement, and that is exactly what they did. 

The Lakers were hot from the opening draw, which they won, and they never looked back. The first goal of the game was scored less than a minute into the game when Abbi O’Neal found the back of the net off a pass from Kelley Fitzgerald. 

Two minutes later, the team extended their lead to 2 when Erika Neumen scored a goal off a pass by Meggan Loyd. Fitzgerald added to the team’s lead with a goal that was assisted by O’Neal. The run for GVSU would end there, though, as UIndy would fire back with three straight goals of their own and tie the game up at 3 with 16 minutes left in the first half. 

It wasn’t too long before GVSU got started on another run of their own when Ashely Bailey scored an unassisted goal with a little over 12 minutes left in the first half. Fitzgerald assisted on the next two Laker goals, scored by Carly Shisler and Bailey, respectively. 

GVSU would go on to score two more goals before the end of the first half, the first of which was an unassisted goal by Loyd and the second of which was scored by Neumen and assisted by Skylar Simmers. UIndy would score the last goal of the half to halt the run by the Lakers and bring the first half score to 8-4. 

UIndy opened up the scoring in the second half before the Lakers scored five straight. Of those goals, two were scored by Shisler, and Shisler also assisted on two of the goals. This run extended GVSU’s lead to 14-5. The teams traded goals back and forth for the remainder of the game, resulting in a final score of 17-10. The Lakers led in nearly every statistical category in the matchup.  

Head coach Alicia Groveston talked about what went right for the team on Thursday. 

“No matter who we had out there, whether it was our starting midfield or our flyers, everybody was working as a complete unit,” Groveston said. “I think that what was so great is that this is the most together that this team has played.” 

GVSU outshot Indy 41-29. Twenty-six of the shots were on goal for the Lakers, while UIndy put 22 on goal. GVSU had 12 saves to UIndy’s nine. UIndy had 16 turnovers, while GVSU had 10, and Indy also had far more fouls than GVSU, finishing with 34, while the Lakers finished with 14. 

Shisler was the big individual performer in the home opener, scoring four goals and assisting on two more. Bailey scored four goals, Loyd and Fitzgerald each finished with 3 points, and Abbi O’Neal finished with a hat trick and added an assist. 

Groveston talked about what this win means for the team moving forward. 

“Now that we have played at a high level, the expectation is that we continue to play at a high level, and I think they expect that from themselves,” Groveston said. “I think everybody is ready and fired up to get back to practice and head into the tough stretch of the schedule.”