ALLENDALE, Mich.—Confidence is at an all-time high for the Grand Valley State women's soccer team, and deservedly so. Fresh off their biggest win of the season—a 10-0 defeat of Tiffin on Friday—and riding a seven game winning streak, Grand Valley State is 8-0-1 on the season heading into Sunday afternoon's matchup with Ashland University.
The Eagles are second in the GLIAC standings, sporting a 5-0-3 overall record, and field a capable and dangerous squad ahead of the weekend matchup with GVSU.
"This is a very talented team, with dynamic players in each line of play.", said GVSU head coach
Jeff Hosler. "We have to be organized and press well in the right moments to defend. They can beat you with individual ability and combination play. Offensively, we need to create tempo and rhythm to keep them off balance."
The Lakers have done an excellent as of late controlling the tempo of games and getting the expected results. After Friday's season-high ten goals, GVSU well outpaces the rest of the GLIAC in total goals, with 35, averaging just under four goals a game, and has outscored opponents 32-1 over their seven game winning streak.
Part of Grand Valley State's early success on offense has come from a trifecta of forwards in
Gabriella Mencotti,
Jayma Martin and
Kendra Stauffer. Mencotti leads the Lakers with 10 goals and 26 points on the season, Martin is second with eight goals and Stauffer is third with five, as the three have been dangerous and effective on the attack.
Grand Valley State's superb offense will face a tough task in the defense of Ashland, which has only yielded four goals this season. The Eagles return several veteran defenders from last season, as well as junior goaltender Courtney Barker, and have registered three shutouts on the season. Offensively, Ashland averages two goals a week, led by junior Morgan Bittengle (five goals) and 2015 GLIAC Freshman of the Year Deijah Swihart (three goals).
"Ashland's system and style of play are very similar to ours and what we encountered in California, so we should have great familiarity with it", said GVSU head coach
Jeff Hosler. "Accounting for runners, transitioning to defense collectively and ball winning will be keys tomorrow."
Fresh off setting a new GVSU and GLIAC single-game attendance record at Lubbers Stadium during the Friday Night Futbol event, GVSU will now return to playing at GVSU Soccer Field for the toughest home test yet.
