GARDEN CITY, N.Y. – Grand Valley State's historic 2016 season comes to a close in a heartbreaking 9-8 defeat to fourth-seeded Dowling at Motamed Field in the First Round of the 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
 
The first team west of New York to qualify for the NCAA Tournament from the North Region, the fifth-seeded Lakers end their season with a record of 15-5, tying them for the most wins in school history.
 
MVP of the GLIAC Tournament championship game, Danielle Tunnell led all GV players with four points on two goals and two assists, with both of her goals coming in the second half. All-North Region honorees Erika Neumen and Ryan Skomial both scored second-half braces.
 
Neumen pulled down three of the team's nine draw control wins, and Tunnell led the team with two caused turnovers and three ground ball pick-ups. Despite taking the loss, Brianna DeMilia played exceptional between the pipes. The sophomore made nine saves, with five coming in the second half, and several of those saves came right on the foot of the crease.
 
In a steady rainfall that lasted throughout most of today's game, the Lakers pulled ahead early with the first two goals of the contest. Kali Heller-Spencer drew first blood at 26:45 off a pass from Tunnell, scoring her first goal of the season, and Chelsey Bishop followed it up with a free-position goal 40 seconds later.
 
Dowling (17-3) woke up and scored the next three goals of the game to take the lead over the Lakers. A trio of goals inside of 6:24 to take their first lead of the game, a lead which they would never truly relinquish. Neither team could score for the remainder of the first half as the poor weather, stingy defenses of both teams, and the goalkeepers kept any potential shots from finding their home in the back of the net. The Lakers took six shots during their scoreless period, having five of them saved, while DeMilia stonewalled the Golden Lions on their only two shots for the remainder of the half.
 
Dowling built their lead to two at 29:10 of the second half, but back-to-back goals by Tunnell at 27:53 and 25:44 tied the game up at four as the offenses started to find holes in both defenses.
 
Dowling retook the lead at 23:18 and added another goal at 22:25, but the Lakers answered right back with a goal by Neumen off a pass by Carolyn Kraus at 21:36 and a free-position goal by Skomial that squirted just past the Dowling keeper to tie the game back at 6-6 with 21:07 still to play.
 
The teams traded goals for the remainder of the game, neither team able to ever pull away from each other. Dowling scored at 18:10, but Neumen buried a shot on the crease off a pass from Bishop to tie the game back up with 14:24 still to play.
 
Dowling snuck a shot past DeMilia to pull ahead once more at 9:45, but neither offense could score for the next seven minutes despite a combined five shots from both teams. Skomial tied the game up at eight off a pass from Tunnell, and the junior buried it stick-side over the goalkeeper's shoulder with 2:02 left on the clock.
 
Unfortunately, the Golden Lions retook the lead only 20 seconds later off a restart following the foul, and Dowling pulled ahead 9-8 in the dying moments of the Tournament game.
 
Despite the late goal, the Lakers had two opportunities to tie the game back up inside the final minute, but a quick-stick shot from Neumen on the doorstep sailed a hair high with 53 seconds left and Tunnell's shot was blocked by a sea of Dowling defenders with 11 seconds left. The ball skittered across the turf before Dowling picked it up and chucked it to end the game and the Lakers' historic season.
 
Grand Valley State edged out Dowling in shots (26-25) and turnovers committed (20-22). The Lakers also prevented the Golden Lions from taking any free-position shots while drawing six themselves and cashing in on two. GV also forced Dowling into committing four yellow cards, and scored on three of those player-advantage situations.