ALLENDALE, Mich. – Junior forward
Ava Cook has been named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Offensive Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2019 season. Cook scored three goals, including a game-winner, across two matches to help the No. 1 Grand Valley State Lakers to a 2-0 start to the 2019 season.
The Battle Creek, Michigan native scored twice in the season opener, including what would be the game-winner, to lead the Lakers past Rollins College, an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago that boasts a reigning All-South Region senior goalkeeper. She followed that with a goal in the Lakers 3-0 win over No. 6 Lee in a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament semifinal, helping GVSU to a mirror score line from the post-season showdown last year. She took seven shots across the two matches, including six on frame while playing 144 minutes on the weekend.
Cook entered the season tied for the fifth-most career goals among all active Division II players and had the highest mark among all returners not going into their senior season. She now has 40 goals for her career and has picked up where she left off last season, when she scored 11 goals in the Lakers nine post-season contests for a strong end to her sophomore campaign.
Cook and the top-ranked Lakers hit the road for the first time this season this weekend, heading north to Minnesota to face two more teams that reached the NCAA Tournament last season in No. 18 Bemidji State on Friday (Sept. 13) at 2:00 ET and No. 25 Minnesota State-Mankato on Sunday (Sept. 15) at 3:00 ET.
