Friday vs. Ohio Dominican:  Game Notes  l  Live Stats  l  ESPN3 Watch link

ALLENDALE, Mich.—Riding an eight game win streak and possessing the top scoring offense in the country, the Grand Valley State women's soccer team is poised to take on Ohio Dominican in the GLIAC semifinals on Friday afternoon, the first of two semifinal matchups taking place in Allendale on Friday. The Lakers will need to defeat the Panthers (7-6-5, 5-3-3 GLIAC) to advance to the title game, where they would face the winner of the Michigan Tech/Walsh semifinal.
 
GVSU (17-1-1, 11-0 GLIAC) has been in strong form since suffering their lone loss of the season on October 5^th to Florida Tech, winning eight straight games and outscoring opponents 42-1 over that span.  A semifinal matchup with Ohio Dominican is far from an easy one, but the teams are quite familiar with each other by now, having played twice this season. Those games were both home contests for Grand Valley State, and most importantly, wins. Despite being familiar with the Panthers personnel, the previous two matchups have shown a difference in strategy for Ohio Dominican.
 
"The first two times around were very different games", said GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler. "They played us in different systems each time. Last time out, they were a lot more high press, a lot more energetic and physical than the first time out, and had some very clear assignments for each player. You would think in the third time around there would be more familiarity, and there is from a personnel standpoint, but in terms of knowing exactly what they're going to do, it's hard to really come to a conclusion."
 
Having secured the ability to host the tournament on their home field, the Lakers are heavily favored in Friday's matchup as they are in any home game. The Lakers home field advantage is not to be understated, as the Lakers are 148-6-5 in matches played at GVSU Soccer Field dating back to the 2003 season. In home matches this season, the Lakers have outscored their opponents 38-2 and posted an 8-1-0 record.
 
"We are excited to play and home and have earned this opportunity, but the game is going to be played where it's going to be played, and our expectation is to give our best performance regardless of the location", said Hosler.
 
Ohio Dominican will once again have to play the Lakers on the road, where they have compiled a lackluster 2-6-2 record this season and scored just seven goals in those matches. Junior forward Alli Pavlik has been capable on the attack for the Panthers this season, scoring nine goals, while seniors Kelly Johnson and Madison Baldwin have netted five and four goals, respectively.
 
Making the task even tougher on the ODU offense is the Lakers impressive defense, which fell just short of setting a new GLIAC record for lowest amount of goals allowed in conference play (zero). Even still, the Lakers defense is a tough nut to crack, and has allowed only four opponents to score a goal this season, posting 15 shutouts with a 0.26 goals-against-average.  Those marks all rank third or better in Division II women's soccer, and show the potency of the Laker defense this season. Two-time GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year Clare Carlson is the cornerstone of the backline, but has received significant support from 2016 All-GLIAC First Team defender Shannon Quinn, All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Madz Ham and junior defender Erika Bradfield in limiting opposing offenses.
 
Swift and relentless on offense, the Lakers have shown the ability to pour on goals in a hurry, with two victories of 10 or more goals to their credit, and thirteen games in which they have scored at least three goals. Both previous matchups against Ohio Dominican fall into the latter category, as the Lakers defeated the Panthers 4-0 on September 18^th and 3-0 on October 14^th. One area the Lakers have improved upon in a big way this season is scoring goals early in games to get their opponent reeling early on. That ability was on display in the Laker's quarterfinal victory over Northern Michigan, as the Lakers scored the first goal of the game just 51 seconds into the first half, and scored a third goal just 18 seconds in the start of the second half.
 
"It makes a world of difference when you can get an early goal in these games", Hosler said. "Getting off to those types of starts forces our opponent to go back to the drawing board a little bit, review their tactics or scrap their tactics that they came into the game with. Scoring a goal like that can also alleviate any nerves and anxiety you may have, and allows us to find out rhythm early in the match and get going."
 
The Lakers will face Ohio Dominican at 4 p.m on Friday in the first of two semifinals that day. If the Lakers are victorious, they will play the winner of the 7 p.m. semifinal between Michigan Tech and Walsh in Sunday's title game.