SYRACUSE, N.Y. - #11 Grand Valley State fought hard to the bitter end, but the Lakers dropped a 14-11 decision to North Region foe and second-ranked Le Moyne at Ted Grant Field. The Lakers fall to 2-3 with the loss in their finale of a string of five road games to open the season.
 
Ryan Skomial led the squad with five points on two goals and three assists, while Erika Neumen, Kira Dosenberry and Danielle Tunnell all added a pair of goals to the game. Neumen pulled down a team-leading four draw controls, Caitlin Wojichowski scooped up three ground balls in the loss.
 
Wojichowski, Tunnell, Kelly Leibovitz, Chloe Zdybel and Katie Tomlinson all caused one turnover each, while Sarah Zwilsky went the distance in today's loss and made five saves. Grand Valley State outshot Le Moyne 28-23 and held an advantage over the Dolphins in ground balls (19-17) and turnovers (16-17).
 
Neumen scored the first two goals for the Lakers, each in response to a Le Moyne goal, and the teams were tied early in the contest. The Dolphins snuck two past Zwilsky to go up by two, but Skomial's first goal of the day put the deficit to one.
 
Le Moyne would go on a run of three unanswered goals to pull ahead by four with just under seven minutes remaining. Tunnell finally ended the goal drought for the Lakers with a free-position goal at 2:34, and Tomlinson tickled the twine for the first time this season with 12 seconds left on the clock to bring the score to 7-5 going into halftime.
 
Le Moyne opened the second stanza with a string of four goals within three minutes to build a six-goal advantage over the Lakers. Grand Valley State responded with three straight goals by Skomial, Dosenberry and Tunnell to bring the team back to within three with 20:18 on the clock.
 
Much as they had all afternoon, the teams traded goals at 19:23, 17:24, and 11:26, as Le Moyne did everything they could to maintain their lead. Skomial fed Carlyn Shisler for the freshman's first goal of the day, while Dosenberry's free-position goal with 9:04 on the clock put the Lakers to within two. But a Le Moyne goal at 4:54, coupled with a great performance by the Le Moyne goalkeeper, kept Grand Valley State from pulling off what would have been a monumental upset.
 
With the out-of-conference portion of their schedule past them, Grand Valley State now looks towards the beginning of GLIAC competition. The Lakers open with a home game McKendree (2-1, 1-0 GLIAC) on March 24 at 6 pm, the first of four consecutive games at GVSU Lacrosse Stadium.