Sept. 21, 2008

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Allendale, Mich. - Joyce Rose notched her first and second goals of the year as Grand Valley State recorded a 4-0 win over Ashland on Sunday, Sept. 21. Rose and the No. 1 Lakers outshot the Eagles by a 35-5 and allowed just one shot on goal. GVSU (8-0, 3-0 GLIAC) now travels to Findlay, Ohio to take on the Oilers on Friday, Sept. 26 at 4:30 p.m.

Rose started the scoring just 2:07 into the match. Ashley Elsass drove all the way to the end line on the left side of the goal and sent a cross to the right side that Rose headed home for a 1-0 lead. Rose took three shots during the match, and two of them resulted in goals. Elsass took eight shots and put three of them on goal. Rose took another shot in the 10th minute, but Krista Herbst responded with her first of 17 saves on the day.

After Herbst made back-to-back saves on Kristen Eible and Elsass, the Lakers scored their second goal of the game at the 15:15 mark. Meaghan Robinson controlled the ball outside the 18-yard box and played it in to Irie Dennis, who touched it onto Katy Tafler. Tafler took a shot from eight yards out that beat Herbst to give GVSU a 2-0 lead. The goal was Tafler's fifth of the season, which tied her for the team lead. She also took a game-high 11 shots and put six of them on goal during the match. Dennis's assist on the goal gave her a team-leading 14 points with five goals and four assists.

The Lakers continued to pressure the Eagles' backline and notched their third goal just six minutes later. A Tafler shot was deflected to Elsass, who was standing on the left side of the net, and just like the first goal of the match, Elsass crossed it to Rose on the right side, who headed him home for a 3-0 GVSU lead. Herbst kept the Eagles within three through the final 23:45 of the first half and the teams went into the locker room with the score 3-0 in favor of Grand Valley State.

GVSU took 17 shots in the first half and continued that trend in the second half with 18 more shots. Eible started the second half with a shot that Herbst saved just 1:39 into the period. Kristina Nasturzio made her only save of the game in the 76th minute on a free kick by Brittany Dimas. The save gave Nasturzio her sixth individual shutout, while the Lakers have shut out seven of their eight opponents. After the save, GVSU responded with their fourth goal of the match in the 77th minute. Kayla Klosterman played a ball through the middle to Erin Mruz, who made a run to get past the defense. Mruz played the ball to the right post for her third goal of the season. The assist was Klosterman's first point as a Laker.

Grand Valley State has won 16 straight GLIAC matches and 27 straight regular season matches. They have not lost at home since Sept. 4, 2005, a span of 31 games. That streak ranks seventh all-time in Division II.