Friday vs. Ferris State - 6:00 PM: Game Notes  l  Live stats 

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. —Two long streaks of near impunity, punctuated by one lone loss, have made up the narrative for the Grand Valley State soccer team this season. GVSU is 15-1-1 on the season and has been making statistical improvements from last season's team, which turned some heads with impressive statistics of their own. The Lakers have rebounded from their lone hiccups—a tie on the road at Cal-Poly Pomona and a loss at home to Florida Tech—going on winning streaks of eight and six games after each, respectively.
 
Those two games also represent three-fourths of the total goals allowed by the Lakers this season, as the team has tightened up on defense from last years campaign and throttled opposing offenses with regularity. Ahead of Friday's looming matchup with Ferris State, the last game on the regular season conference slate, it would be a mistake to think that statistical contributions are of paramount importance to this Lakers squad, yet this side has the opportunity to make history if they can continue their shutout streak.
 
More impressive than GVSU's undefeated romp through GLIAC play this season is the zero goals allowed to conference opponents along the way, a feat never before accomplished by a GLIAC women's soccer program. While GVSU has led the conference in fewest goals allowed in each season dating back to 2002, including several seasons with just one conference goal allowed, a perfect shutout mark has never been achieved, and is up for grabs this Friday.
 
Standing in the way is a determined and capable Bulldogs squad that would love to play spoiler to the Lakers accomplishments. While the Lakers have already clinched the GLIAC Regular Season Championship, their 12^th in a row, and the game doesn't have implications regarding conference standings, regional rankings and other postseason metrics are still on the line, making the matchup important.
 
"This game has tremendous NCAA regional tournament implications, because at this time of year, strength of schedules and RPI's can shift pretty quickly, so it is important for us in that regard", GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler said.

Though short on goals this season (second to last in the GLIAC), the Bulldogs have been closer to on par with the Lakers on defense than anyone in the GLIAC, allowing just four conference goals and second only to the Lakers in conference shutouts, with seven (GVSU has nine). Armed with a veteran defensive back line and buoyed by the efforts of freshman goalkeeper Grace Kraft, the Bulldogs have not been easy to score on this season. Kraft has been dominant between the sticks, making 11 starts and sporting a 0.48 goals against average on her way to 81 saves and nine shutouts on the season.
 
"Ferris is always difficult to play, because they're very well coached and organized defensively", Hosler said. "They're second only to us for the league lead in shutouts, they have a freshman goalkeeper who has been a big part of those shutouts. We're going to have to be really sharp, playing at Ferris is always difficult because we'll be playing on a harder, smaller playing field and we'll have to be sharp if we want to come out with three points."
 
Offensively, the Bulldogs don't masquerade as an offensive powerhouse, having scored just 15 goals in 16 games, and scoring more than one goal in just three games this season, compared to 13 such games for GVSU. However, the Bulldogs strike well in limited chances, particularly when afforded set pieces, which are an equalizer of sorts when done well. Playing on their home field, a smaller field at that, and likely to play a defensive minded game plan, the Bulldogs can be expected to look to set pieces and counterattacks for goal scoring opportunities.
 
"They're really good on set pieces", Hosler said. "We have to be really careful about giving away careless fouls from the midfield in, because they do a god job of getting numbers in, winning first balls and hammering home those chances. We have to be really smart about the physical side of the game and not giving those fouls away and giving them chances to get numbers forward. In their defensive shape, they don't really get numbers forward a lot, so they're really predicated about using those set piece moments or individual efforts to make chances."
 
Both teams in this matchup come into the game on undefeated streaks through their last five matchups. For Ferris State, two ties and three shutout victories have build up an impressive 514 minute shutout streak, while the Lakers have been just slightly better, shutting out six straight opponents and amassing a 543 minute streak since their last goal allowed. The Lakers can cite their experienced and capable backline as the biggest positive change in their defense from last season.
 
"I think we've very clearly been even better defensively over the whole season", Hosler said. "Shannon Quinn has been a big part of that, really growing into her role. We returned Clare Carlson and all of her tremendous talent and experience, and the improvements of Erika Bradfield, Madz Ham, Mackenzie Fox and Dani Johnson that have all elevated their game from a year ago on both sides of the ball, and its allowed us to be much cleaner in possession. Their ability to 1v1 defend and be organized, as well as being quicker and taller among the back five than we've been since I've been here. Tracey McCoy has also made huge strides, especially in the last few weeks to add additional depth, size and pace down the wing for us. I think we're hitting on all cylinders defensively at this time of year, which is going to be really important."
 
To combat the Ferris State defense, the Lakers bring the most potent offense in Division II—and its leading scorer—to bear on the Bulldogs defense. There's no easy way to stop the Lakers offense, as they possess tremendous skill on the ball and speed to match. Whether it has been 21-goal scorer Gabriella Mencotti or double-digit goal scorers Jayma Martin and Kendra Stauffer, the Lakers have no shortage of players looking to challenge Ferris's shutout streak. Indeed, those three are just one part of a Laker offense in which nine different players have three or more goals, as the team leads Division II in goals, with 74. The struggle for Laker opponents is not simply trying to stop the Lakers from scoring  goals, but how to match them once they do, a task arguably more difficult to accomplish.
 
With the GLIAC Tournament set to take place next week, the temptation to look past the Bulldogs would be a fatal one to indulge in, as they are a capable and confident opponent that plays their game plan to perfection, and has done so throughout the season.