Box Score

Lakeland, Fla. – The 20^th-ranked Grand Valley State women's lacrosse team lead for nearly the entire game, but it wasn't enough as the Lakers fell 17-12 in the 2015 season opener to the ninth-ranked Florida Southern Moccasins Friday (Feb. 13) evening.
 
GVSU (0-1) jumped out to an early 4-0 lead with a pair of goals from Erika Neumen and scores from Brooke Ingraham and Victoria Devine before the host Moccasins (1-0) were able to answer back with two goals of their own to make it a 4-2 game.
 
Neumen found the back of the net twice more at 9:46 and 6:00 of the first half, and Stiemann rippled the twine at 12:00 off a pass from Jordan Luberto, but Florida Southern's potent offense was able to put in a few of their own and the teams went into the half with the Lakers holding a slim 7-6 advantage.
 
The Moccasins struck at 29:27 and 25:14 of the second half to take a one-goal lead, but Devine and Carolyn Kraus scored within 30 seconds of each other to give GVSU the lead back with the entire half to play.
 
The teams would trade goals for the next three minutes, with Grand Valley State never able to build a lead greater than one and Florida Southern unable to retake the lead. Stiemann scored her second goal of the contest with 17:01 still to play, but it would be the last Laker goal scored for the next 16 minutes as Florida Southern went off for seven unanswered goals to take a commanding 17-11 lead with under two minutes to go in the game.
 
Devine completed her hat-trick while ending the team's scoring drought with 1:26 to go on the clock, but the Lakers couldn't find the back of the net again, dashing any hopes of an early-season road upset.
 
Neumen found the back of the net five times in her first game as a Laker, while Stiemann and Devine also tallied multi-goal games. Ryan Skomial led the squad with two assists, while Kraus pulled down a team-high five draw controls. Sarah Zwilsky took the loss tonight, despite making 11 saves in the contest.
 
The Lakers were outshot (33-22) and lost the ground ball battle (19-12), but they did draw even with the Moccasins in draw controls with each team winning 16.
 
Florida Southern was paced by Lorianne Hoover, who tallied three goals and three assists for six points to go with her six ground balls. Megan Asper led in scoring with five goals and in draw controls with seven, while Caitlin Chase also chipped in two goals and two assists. Taylor Gillis recorded the win in relief, making one save in 24:15 of action.
 
Grand Valley State continues their southern road trip when they travel to the Palmetto State for a Monday (Feb. 16) meeting with the fifth-ranked Limestone Lady Saints at 4 p.m.