There's no place like home for the Grand Valley State women's soccer team. Since 2003, GV has amassed an impressive 135 victories there, and the 7-0 record at home this season is just the status quo for the Lakers.
 
GVSU plays host to Michigan Tech on Friday, and Northern Michigan on Sunday for Senior Day in a pair of conference matchups. The Lakers sit atop the conference after dethroning first place Ashland last Friday.
 
Friday's matchup against Michigan Tech (7-3-1) will feature a marquee matchup between a pair of high scoring Huskies attackers in Lexi Herrewig (9 goals) and Jacqueline Mielke (8 goals) against a Grand Valley defense that has allowed just one goal in conference play.
 
"Both of those players are dynamic attackers," said GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler. "They pose problems because they come out of different lines of play, with one in the midfield and the other as a forward, and that makes them flexible in their attack. "
 
The Huskies have been one of the higher scoring teams in the conference this season, and knowing how to combat that offense is half the battle for the Lakers in defending GVSU Soccer Field.
 
"Tech is a possession oriented team, they do a good job of building out of the back. When they are effective in their possession, and pick the right spots to go, they are very dangerous, but we've been doing a pretty good job against possession based teams of making them be more direct and more predictable. They have a very experienced group coming Friday that will be very prepared, so we have to expect that."
 
Sunday's opponent, Northern Michigan, has been on quite the surge as of late. After going 0-7 to start the season, the Wildcats have won their last four games, all versus conference opponents, to slide into 6^th place in the GLIAC standings. Twelve different players have scored for Northern this season, making them harder to defend against.
 
"Northern's one of the hottest teams in the league right now, winning four straight. They played us very well last year, getting us out of sync, out of rhythm," Hosler said. "Paula Hafner is a very dangerous player for them, last years Offensive Player of the year in the GLIAC, and  while she's not netting goals as often as she did last year, she's still always a threat to score."
 
Getting off to the right start will be important for the Laker's in both games, but coming out focused and precise from the get-go is of special importance versus the Wildcats.
 
"If they show up the same way they did last year, and we do as well, we could be in for a real battle in this game. We have to be sure to manage our emotions, and focus on taking on what has been of one of the hottest teams in the conference."
 

 
Grand Valley is coming off the biggest weekend of the season thus far, having defeated previously unbeaten #21 Ashland University before taking on a strong Ohio Dominican team, and winning both matches with a strong and focused team effort.
 
"We're playing very well right now, and to go on the road and do what we did last weekend was impressive, but I know  that our girls know that the work's not done," Hosler said. "While we did play well, we didn't put forth a solid 90 minutes in either of those games, and we're still trying to get that out of our team moving forward."
 
Friday's game against Michigan Tech will kick off at 7 p.m and will be broadcast on Xfinity 900.  Video of the game can also be viewed at gvsulakers.com.  Sunday's game against Northern Michigan will begin at noon, and the senior class of Katie Klunder, Katie Bounds, Katy Woolley and Maddison Reynolds will be recognized at halftime.