The #8 Grand Valley State women's soccer team will face Tiffin University this Friday at home before leaving the friendly confines of GVSU Soccer Field on Sunday to face Malone University in Canton, Ohio.
 
Playing at home has been far and away an advantage for the Lakers, who are an undefeated 5-0 at home on the season and have outscored opponents 26- 3 in those matches.  Tiffin has found no easy goings on the road this season, bringing a 0-3 away record into the matchup.
 
"Offensively Tiffin is an improved team from last year, they're healthier up top, they've got some threats up top, they've been scoring more goals this fall than last year," says GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler. "Defensively, they've struggled to find consistency, but when they get it together, they do a good job of keeping the ball in front of them and out of the net."
 
After Friday's bout, the Lakers will hit the road for the first time since the opening weekend of the season, when they went 1-1 with a loss to #2 Quincy and a win at Truman State. Sunday's opponent, Malone University, is 4-2 in the GLIAC and 1-1 at home, having beaten Lake Erie and lost to Maine Fort Kent.
 
"Last year they (Malone) were a young team, but now they're more experienced, and more confident. I expect to see them confident and comfortable on Sunday at Malone. Last season they found some ways to get forward on us, and ended up really testing us defensively.
 
The Lakers will have to contend with a dual threat from the Pioneers in junior forwards Christine Najjar (6 goals) and Brianna Smith (4 goals). The Lakers defense is much improved from their opening weekend loss to Quincy, and has yielded just three goals since that game.
 
 "Defensively I think we've steadily improved throughout the season, and we're getting our younger players a lot more reps," Hosler said. "As our players identify their roles on the team, they start to play to that role and it helps our players be more confident and improve as a unit. "
 
Both weekend opponents will have their hands full containing Grand Valley's high powered offense, which is second in the nation among Division II programs with 30 goals. Junior midfielder Marti Corby, the reigning Player of the Year in Division II and reigning offensive GLIAC  Player of the Week i is a big reason that offense has been so potent.
 
"The team has a lot of confidence in Marti. She's playing very good soccer, and I think our girls recognize she's playing to that level and it holds everyone on the team to a higher standard of play. She does a great job putting our other players in a position where they can be successful with her movement and passing."
 
Friday's game is scheduled for a 7 p.m start at GVSU Soccer Field. Sunday's game at Malone, initially scheduled for a 1 p.m start, has been moved up to 12:30 p.m.