Live Stats | Match Notes

Losing is not something the Grand Valley State women's soccer program is very accustomed to, especially during the regular season. Over the past eight campaigns, the Lakers have lost just seven matches, with four occurring in the NCAA Tournament. This week, however, the club will have to bounce back from its first defeat in 27 matches – a 1-0 loss at then-No. 7 Minnesota State last Sunday (Sep. 14).
 
By no means is the loss a crippling one. There is certainly no shame in losing to a top-10 club on the road, one that GVSU held scoreless for over 80 minutes. Tough lessons are preferably learned from wins rather than losses, but this is undoubtedly serving as a wake-up call for the reigning national champions.
 
"We didn't play with a sense of urgency. We have to play harder and understand that anything we get is going to be earned, not given," head coach Jeff Hosler says. "Too often the approach to, and minutes within, the match reflects that we didn't play with those things."
 
Hosler's approach to the challenging non-conference slate, which featured a pair of top-15 opponents and two other clubs that qualified for last year's NCAA Tournament, has been to gain a clear sense of any tactical and competitive shortfalls. Some of those things were exposed against the Mavericks, outlining the areas Hosler and Co. will focus on during this week's training sessions.
 
"We can reflect on Sunday's loss to learn valuable lessons," Hosler says. "After we've done that, we have to turn the page and focus on getting better…The girls are ready to get back after it and get better."
 
Although the club's No. 1 ranking and noteworthy winning streak – tied for the fourth-longest run in Division II history – did not come up in team settings, both magnified the already enormous target on GVSU's back.
 
The Lakers were the nation's top-ranked team for 12 consecutive weeks, a feat only two other clubs accomplished since 1997.
 
But sitting atop the poll for a majority of the season does not correlate with winning a national title. The burden can often be too much to carry for an extended period of time.
 
Since 2001, only one team has been No. 1 in the preseason and regular season polls for more than three weeks and won the national title: the 2013 Lakers, who held down the top spot for the final 10 weeks of the year. Moreover, they were the only club during that span to enter the postseason ranked No. 1 and claim the NCAA Championship.
 
None of that will be on GVSU's mind this weekend. Instead, it must focus on a Ferris State club capable of pulling off a stunning upset. The Lakers have not suffered back-to-back losses since they dropped the final two matches of the 2002 campaign. They've won each of the last 20 meetings with the Bulldogs as well. By no means is this a reason to put a fourth match in the win column for GVSU, though.
 
"Ferris State is very well coached. They will be disciplined, know their assignments and be prepared," Hosler says of the Bulldogs, who carry a 1-2-1 overall record. "They are a much more athletic team than they were last year. Their freshman class is much more athletic, which will certainly help them, especially through the midfield.
 
"They have a good goal scorer up top in Nichole Boehnke, some wingers that have pace and can present some challenges, and a pretty sound back line and goalkeeping. We have to be sharp. We have to be disciplined in using width and understanding the right moments to use width and get to goal."
 
Fourth-ranked GVSU and Ferris State will kick off the 25^th meeting in the storied rivalry, as well as their respecitve 12-match GLIAC slates, at 5 p.m. Saturday (Sep. 20) evening in Big Rapids, Michigan.