LEBANON, Ill. – The Laker offense recorded their second straight 20-goal game and their fifth of the season as 11th-ranked Grand Valley State ran away with a 23-11 win over host McKendree at Leemon Field. The win gives the Lakers a 10-4 overall record and 8-1 mark in the conference as they wrap up the road portion of their GLIAC schedule.
 
Erika Neumen continued to find the back of the net as the junior midfielder scored six of the team's goals in the win. Ryan Skomial tallied six points on five goals and an assist, while Kira Dosenberry, Meghan Datema and Danielle Tunnell all recorded hat-tricks in the big win. Skomial and Dosenberry also added one assist in the win. Chelsey Bishop dished out a pair of assists in the win, bringing her total to 30 on the year to put the junior third for the most assists in a single season in school history.
 
Dosenberry led all field players with four ground balls, while Skomial and Kelly Leibovitz both pulled down four draw controls in the win. Neumen caused three Bearcat turnovers, while Adrianna Smith led the defenders with two caused turnovers.
 
Brianna DeMilia earned her second straight win in as many starts by making nine saves in all 60 minutes of action while also recording seven ground balls. Of DeMilia's nine saves, seven of them came in the second half.
 
McKendree (8-7, 6-4 GLIAC) put one on the board just 20 seconds into the game to give themselves an early lead. Neumen gave GV the lead with two straight goals while Skomial ripped one past the Bearcat keeper to make it a 3-1 Laker lead after eight minutes into the opening half.
 
The teams went goal-for-goal after that point for the next seven minutes, with Grand Valley State never able to pull ahead by more than two and McKendree unable to tie the game. Goals by Datema and Dosenberry kept the Lakers ahead with 15:22 on the clock.
 
McKendree tied the score at 5-5 with 12:12 on the clock, but it would be the closest they would get to taking the lead as Grand Valley State reeled off a five-goal run to put them ahead for the rest of the game. Goals by Tunnell, Skomial and Neumen within nine minutes gave the Lakers their widest margin of the game at the time with 3:04 still to go in the half.
 
The Bearcats ended the run shortly after Neumen's fourth tally, but an unassisted goal from Carolyn Kraus brought the lead back to five with 24 seconds remaining. The hosts snuck one behind DeMilia with eight seconds before halftime, giving them a bit of momentum going into halftime.
 
Datema scored her second goal of the game less than two minutes into the second half, but a McKendree goal two minutes later kept the hosts to within four with plenty of time still to play in the game.
 
Datema completed her hat-trick at 25:18 of the half and kickstarted another fuve-goal run for the visitors that put them well out of reach of their hosts. Neumen buried her fifth and sixth goals of the afternoon, while Dosenberry scored her second and Skomial her third to give Grand Valley State a nine-goal lead over McKendree with 19:50 left.
 
Kelley Fitzgerald scored off a feed from Skomial to put GV back ahead by nine after McKendree scored at 18:51. The Bearcats would bring the deficit to seven with goals at 15:24 and 9:30, but it would be the final goals they would score as yet another five-goal run from Grand Valley State would close out the game. Skomial would complete her hat-trick while adding another, while Tunnell and Dosenberry also completed their hat-tricks and Carlyn Shisler would end the day's scoring with her strike at 1:26.
 
The Lakers held an advantage over the Bearcats in the major statistical categories. GVSU peppered McKendree with 47 shots, tied for sixth-most in a single game in program history, while only having to face 29 from McKendree. Grand Valley State also won ground balls (20-14), draw controls (19-17), and turnovers (13-16). McKendree was also limited to just two free-position shots, while the Lakers received six.
 
Grand Valley State returns to the friendly confines of GVSU Lacrosse Stadium for the final three games of the regular season. The Lakers will host Lake Erie (6-8, 4-6) in a doubleheader on Friday (Apr. 29) at noon and 7 pm. GVSU will then honor their seniors in the regular season finale against Walsh (4-11, 0-11 GLIAC) on Saturday (Apr. 30) at 6 pm.