Box Score

All of the grueling two-a-day practices from this past summer are starting to pay major dividends for the Grand Valley State women's soccer team. The club's exceptional fitness level, especially along its back line, enabled it to hold Tiffin shotless in a 5-0 victory Sunday (Oct. 5) afternoon.
 
The No. 3 Lakers tallied three first-half goals, two of which came from junior forward Katie Bounds, added another pair in the second stanza and totaled 31 shots. Thanks to redshirt senior Kaely Schlosser's vocal direction, GVSU's defense constantly turned away the Dragons at the other end of the pitch.
 
"A lot of credit goes to Kaely in organizing (our defense) and being an absolute ball-winner today," said head coach Jeff Hosler. "She's had a good week in general, but today she was phenomenal."
 
GVSU got on the scoreboard via a sneaky back side run by sophomore midfielder Gabbie Guibord at the five-minute mark. The Northville High School alum received a perfect end-line feed from sophomore midfielder Marti Corby, banging it home for her second goal in the team's last three matches. It would eventually go down as her second game-winning tally of the season.
 
Just over 33 minutes later, Bounds continued her hot streak with a pair of goals in a three-minute stretch.
 
Her first goal came courtesy of a centering pass from freshman midfielder Shannon Quinn, which she banked off the crossbar and into the netting. Bounds went on to chip in a long cross out in front of the goal to make it 3-0 Lakers with a little over three minutes left until halftime. Freshman defender Tracey McCoy earned her first collegiate assist on the goal.
 
"Bounds has been so effective running at players, playing with a sense of urgency, and her ball play around the top of the box has been great," said Hosler of the Southfield, Michigan native, who has five goals and two assists in the last four matches.
 
Freshman forward Gabriella Mencotti and senior forward Jenny Shaba extended streaks of their own when the duo teamed up for a goal in the 52^nd minute. Mencotti scored a goal for the fifth match in a row, while Shaba has handed out at least one assist in four consecutive matches.
 
Corby added one more goal for good measure in the 69^th minute. Sophomore forward Kendra Stauffer was credited with her second assist in as many matches on GVSU's fifth, and final, tally of the match.
 
Although the Lakers did not play the complete 90-minute match Hosler is still looking for, he believes they are getting closer to doing exactly that. The club's mentality over the last three matches, all of which were played in a five-day span, left him statisfied as well.
 
"(Today) was more of a complete game. There were still some moments in the second half when our touches weren't as clean as we know we're capable of. The timing of some runs wasn't as clean as it should be, but it was better than Friday," said Hosler. "I thought they did a good job of balancing the mental and emotional part of the game during these last three matches."
 
GVSU now carries a 9-1 overall record and is off to a 5-0 start in GLIAC play. The Lakers will travel to Northwood on Friday (Oct. 10), before returning to Allendale for a four-match homestand.

Notes:
-Today was the sixth time since 2001 the Lakers held an opponent shotless
-GVSU is now 12-0-1 with 10 shutouts in its series with Tiffin
-With their 28th consecutive victory in GLIAC play, the Lakers matched the sixth-longest streak in Division II history
-GVSU has scored at least three goals in each of its last six matches, a feat only four other teams in school history accomplished
-Over the last nine seasons, the Lakers are 64-4-9 in road matches
-Kendra Stauffer's assist this afternoon makes her the sixth GVSU player with at least three helpers this year
-By making her 85th consecutive appearance, Charlie Socia surpassed Katie Ales for the eighth-longest streak in program history
-This is the eighth time in school history GVSU has opened GLIAC play with a 5-0 record
-Today's victory was the 100th of Jeff Hosler's nine-year coaching career