Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team landed their first win of the season in a shutout over the University of Mary as they started the weekend off with a bang, traveling to Mankato, MN to face the UMary Marauders, taking home a 2-0 win.
Heading into Friday’s game, the Lakers were 0-1-1, looking for their first win, while the Marauders already held one win, putting them at 1-0-1. Taking off in the first half, the Lakers started strong. GVSU put the pressure on just over three minutes in as senior forward Taylor Reid started the action with a quick shot against UMary’s goalkeeper Molly Fischer who made the tough save.
After possession was mainly controlled by the Lakers, 19 minutes into the first half, graduate midfielder Avery Lockwood scored the first goal of the game with sophomore forward Amanda Palmer on the assist.
Lockwood broke down how the play opened up for her to score.
“Amanda Palmer was playing into the wide space in the right corner of the field. She was working very hard to make it to the ball before it went out so I worked to make a run in the box to receive her cross,” Lockwood said. “It came right towards the near side as I was running in on a couple bounces, so I just focused on making good contact with the ball and going far post.”
Building off of their early goal, just minutes later GVSU redshirt freshman goalkeeper Isabel Imes made the first in her career.
“It was off of a free kick in their defensive half and Kenzie Jones went up for the 50/50 ball in the air and flicked it on to me and I came out and made the save,” Imes said.
At the conclusion of the first half the Lakers took a total of seven shots, leading the game, while the Marauders mustered the one shot that Imes saved. UMary struggled to make it past the stiff defense of the Lakers, as the GVSU offense controlled possession for a good portion of the half.
60 minutes in, Reid scored the second goal of the game, giving GVSU their final score of 2-0. With a complete game shutout on just four Marauders’ shot attempts, the Lakers took their first win.
“The team played well today, so putting together a full 90 minutes and getting that result feels really good. The team and staff know that we still have a lot of growing to do, but the progress is great,” said Katie Hultin, the head coach of the GVSU women’s soccer team.
Imes said there were many factors that lead to the team’s success.
“I think we found our rhythm and we just need to keep playing our game and not let our opponents dictate us,” Imes said. “We have to keep working everyday to become better as a whole, because every game this year is a battle. Everything is a day by day process and we just need to focus on beating one opponent at a time and not let the thought of who’s next get to us. I’m super excited about the win and the shutout today and the goal is to do it again on Sunday.”
Now, sitting at 1-1-1, GVSU’s next match will also take place in Mankato, MN, on Sept. 10 at 2 p.m. against the number eight team in the nation: undefeated Minnesota State University (2-0-1).
