ALLENDALE, Mich.—History repeated itself on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Allendale, as the Lakers defeated Michigan Tech by a 5-0 tally to win their 10^th straight GLIAC Tournament Championship. The game was all GVSU from shortly after the opening whistle, as the Lakers scored goals on their first two shots of the game at the four and seven minute marks to set the stage for their eventual 5-0 victory, as the Lakers have now won every GLIAC Tournament title since it's inception in the 2007 season.
 
Grand Valley State (19-1-1) continued their run of GLIAC Tournament dominance using the same recipe for success as last season, earning three straight shutouts and outscoring their opponents by a 13-0 margin in tournament play. Additionally, the Lakers had four players selected to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team, as Tara Lierman, Jayma Martin, Erika Bradfield and Gabriella Mencotti were all selected to represent the tournament champions.
 
"We were really sharp in those first 30 minutes, picking the right moments to go and scoring three really clean goals", GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler said.  "I'd love to get those sorts of early goals every match, so give our kids a lot of credit for being sharp and focused on what we were trying to do tactically today, and executing that very well."
 
The trio of Laker forwards that have led the way on offense all season were well worth the price of admission on Sunday, as Division II's leading scorer Gabriella Mencotti continued her superlative junior season with a pair of goals, and seniors Jayma Martin and Kendra Stauffer netted two goals and one goal, respectively, in the contest. The previously solid Huskies defense had no answer for the speed of the Laker trio, and the excellent balls played in to them by midfielders Tara Lierman (two assists) and Marti Corby (two assists).
 
After a bit of back and forth play to open the game, the Lakers struck quickly near the end of the third minute, as Corby played a ball to Lierman, who snuck a through ball in to a streaking Mencotti down the middle of the field. Mencotti outpaced a pair of Tech defenders on either side of her and fired a low shot past GLIAC Goalkeeper of the Year Kirsen Hudak for the Lakers first goal.
 
Just three minutes later, the Lakers struck again, as defender Erika Bradfield floated a ball in over the top of the Huskies backline to a waiting Jayma Martin, who streaked past one defender, cut past another and fired a ball into the far side of net past a leaping Hudak to give the Lakers an early two goal lead.
 
"When we pick the right moments to go bigger, it really stretches their back four and makes it difficult for their midfielders to find compactness", Hosler said. "When we can stretch them out, it gives us 10 or 15 more yards in the middle, and that gives us more time and space to find combination play."
 
Martin would add her second tally of the day halfway through the 11^th minute of play, as Stauffer got off a good angle at the Michigan Tech goal but had her shot blocked. Martin was quick to corral the ball and fired a second shot right back, which was denied by Hudak, but the ball came bouncing right back to Martin, who beat Hudak with her second attempt at goal. That 3-0 margin would carry the Lakers into halftime with a solid lead and gave the visiting Huskies a nearly impossible uphill climb to undertake in the second half.
 
In the 54^th minute, Stauffer would notch her 16^th goal of the season, as she found herself on the receiving end of a deep ball played in from overhead by Corby, and beat two Tech defenders in a foot race to the goal before firing a shot to the far side of net past a diving Hudak. Five minutes later, Mencotti doubled her point total for the day with a brilliant header goal off of a Laker corner kick. A flawless delivery into the box by Lierman found a rising Mencotti, who fired off a forceful header past Hudak and two defenders for the Lakers final score of the day.
 
Grand Valley State owned a healthy 30-11 shots advantage in the game, registering 16 of those shots on goal. Conversely, the Huskies managed four shots on goal, all of which were saved by Jennifer Steinway for her 12^th clean sheet of the season.
 
"Winning college games is tough to do, and Michigan Tech's a very capable side", Hosler said. "To win by the margin that we did and to keep them off the scoreboard I think speaks volumes and should give us a lot of confidence moving forward. I'm happy for the girls, for our seniors it's their fourth straight GLIAC Championship, but we have a lot of work yet to do and we need to come back on Wednesday and be sharp and ready to prepare for the NCAA's."
 
The Lakers are now set as the top seed in the region ahead of the NCAA Selection show, which will take place on Monday, November 7^th at 6:00 p.m. At that point, the Lakers will find out their next opponent as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament.