It can be very important to have a short term memory as an athlete and not dwelling on the negatives. For the Grand Valley State women's soccer team, however, remembering their season opening loss to Quincy paid dividends in a big way, culminating in the Lakers ending Quincy's season on Sunday at GVSU Soccer Field with an impressive drubbing, 6-0.
 
Grand Valley received a pair of first half goals from freshman forward Samantha Riga in the 21^st and 23^rd minutes, allowing the Lakers to seize control from the weary Hawks, who won Friday's first round game with the University of Missouri St.Louis to earn the matchup with top ranked Grand Valley.
 
"Samantha is doing what we're asking her to do as a center forward, and that's to be available and score goals, and she's done that with her 5^th goal in four games," GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler said.
 
Sophomore Gabriella Mencotti would add her 10^th goal of the season in the 39^th minute, giving the Lakers a 3-0 halftime lead. Kendra Stauffer, Katie Bounds and Maddison Reynolds would all add goals in the second half to blow the tight contest wide open.
 
In their final home game, it was the Grand Valley senior class that made a particular impression. Katie Bounds and Maddison Reynolds both netted goals, while midfielder Katie Klunder chipped in two assists on the day, and senior center back Katie Woolley led the defense with great solo play in securing the shutout.
 
On the other end, freshman goalkeeper Emily Maresh faced a determined and accurate Hawks attack. Maresh showed an impressive variety of moves early, making several key saves to keep the Lakers in control.  It was a well deserved about-face for the Novi, Michigan native, who had a rough first collegiate start at the hands of the Hawks.
 
"It felt really awesome to get the shutout today," freshman goalkeeper Emily Maresh said. "Normally I just get a shutout and it's all because of our defense and how well they play, but today I actually had the opportunity to make some saves, so it was great to be in there. It definitely was in my mind how Quincy welcomed me to my college career (3 goals and a loss), and to be able to get the shutout against them like this was just awesome."
 
"Without a doubt, Emily had her best game of the season today.," Hosler said. "She came up huge for us in the first half, made three very good saves, looking into the sun on hard driven balls form distance that were great shots. I'm really impressed by Emily's ability to stay focused on a weekly basis and be ready to perform."
 
Maresh (16-1) recorded seven saves in goal to record yet another shutout on the season.
 
Head coach Jeff Hosler cites the opening weekend loss as a catalyst for improvement for the Lakers this season, especially on the offensive end, where the Lakers have shattered the program record for most goals in a season with 96 and counting.
 
"We've had three months to work on the things we needed to get better at after the first game against Quincy.," Hosler said. "I thought we settled a lot in that first game, taking the first shot we had instead of trying to create something more dangerous. We did a lot better job of that throughout the season, and we've set a school record for goals in a season already."
 
Midfielder Marti Corby chipped in two assists for the Lakers, but was held scoreless. Her free kick in  the 47^th minute from just outside the Hawks 18 yard box beat the keeper but careened off the crossbar.
 
The Lakers will now await news on their next opponent and game location, but confidence is high after securing redemption from the only loss of the season, in convincing fashion and in front of a home crowd, no less.
 
"This win gives our girls a lot of confidence moving on to the next round. We know that teams are going to get better and better as we advance and we just beat a really good Quincy team. To be able to score six goals in a match at this level of the NCAA tournament should give our kids a lot of confidence moving forward."