GREENVILLE, PA – Two Grand Valley State sophomore midfielders combined for seven goals and four assists, including the game-winner as the Lakers knocked off #18 Indiana (Pa.), 14-12, at the Rissell-Schreyer Dome at Thiel College. GVSU, who sees their all-time record against ranked opponents shift to 1-8 with the win, improve their 2015 record to 2-3 overall. On the other side, the Crimson Hawks see their record drop to 0-2.
 
The first ten minutes of the opening half saw four goals scored, two apiece for the Lakers and Crimson Hawks. Zoe Stiemann tallied both Laker goals off passes from Ryan Skomial and Victoria Devine to keep GVSU close in the beginning of the half.
 
IUP would pull ahead with a run of five consecutive goals lasting over seven minutes to make it a 7-2 score with 9:34 left in the half. However, Grand Valley State would respond with a run of their own, as four straight free-position goals by the Lakers saw them cut the deficit to one. Skomial scored twice during the run, while Erika Neumen notched her first goal of the afternoon and Rachel Leibovitz rippled the twine after an IUP timeout to make it a 7-6 contest.
 
Kira Dosenberry fired back-to-back goals at 2:08 and 1:03 to tie the game at eight, and Neumen found Carolyn Kraus with 32 seconds left on the clock to give GVSU their first lead of the game. An Indiana (Pa.) free-position goal with one second left tied the game at 9-9 going into halftime, but the momentum appeared to in favor of the Lakers.
 
The teams would trade goals for the first eight minutes of the second half, with neither team able to pull away. Indiana (Pa.) opened the half with a go-ahead goal, but GVSU answered right back thanks to a Skomial feed to Neumen. Neumen would score an unassisted tally after the Crimson Hawks retook the lead, but IUP would make it a 12-11 game after a goal at 18:07. Neither team would be able to find the back of the net for the next 10 minutes, as GVSU saw two shots on goal denied while the Laker defense forced IUP into two turnovers and committing another three unforced errors.
 
The tying goal would come at 8:13 by way of Grand Valley State's 10th free-position shot of the day and Kraus' second goal of the afternoon, and the game-winning goal would come less than three minutes later Skomial's third goal of the game. Neumen's fourth goal of the day would give Grand Valley State their biggest lead of the game, putting the score at 14-12 with 4:18 remaining on the clock.
 
Highlighted by a big Sarah Zwilsky save with 1:25 left on the clock, the Laker defense kept IUP off the board for the remaining time, sealing their first win over a ranked opponent in program history.
 
Neumen led the Lakers with four goals and two assists for six points, while Skomial was right behind with three goals and two assists for six points. Skomial also pulled down a team-high six draw controls in the win. Stiemann, Kraus, and Dosenberry would each put two goals on the board, while Victoria Devine and Ashley Bailey dished out one assist apiece.
 
Caitlin Wojichowski led the defense with two caused turnovers, while Kelly Leibovitz and Niki Jacobs tied for the team-lead in groundballs with four. Zwilsky picked up her second win of the season and 12th of her career with one ground ball and four saves, none more important than her one with 1:25 to go in the game.
 
Grand Valley State outshot IUP (26-21), scooped up more ground balls (19-14), and won more draw controls (19-18), and they limited their opponents to just four free-position attempts while taking 10 of their own.
 
GVSU won't have another game until March 20, when they travel to Ohio to take on Urbana at 6 p.m. The Lakers then host back-to-back home games at GVSU Lacrosse Stadium when they welcome #3 Lindenwood on March 24 and Fort Lewis on March 26, with both games taking place at 7 p.m.