ALLENDALE, Mich. – Grand Valley State fought and clawed all afternoon before pulling away late to win their fourth consecutive GLIAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament championship as the top-seeded Lakers downed third-seeded Findlay 20-10 at GVSU Lacrosse Stadium. With the win, their eighth straight, the Lakers end the regular season with a 15-4 record, matching last year's win total.
 
Today's victory makes it three wins for the Lakers over Findlay this season, as GV defeated the Oilers 19-9 at home on April 3 and again 21-8 in Ohio on April 15, making it seven wins in as many games against the Oilers. Today's win also gives the team their ninth home win of the season and 16th consecutive win at GVSU Lacrosse Stadium.
 
With eight points on five goals and three assists and a team-best three ground balls and two caused turnovers, Danielle Tunnell was named the GLIAC Tournament Championships MVP. Erika Neumen also had a stellar game, putting up five points on four goals and an assist while tying for the team-lead in draw controls with five. Ryan Skomial tallied a hat-trick and tied with Neumen and Kira Dosenberry for five draw controls. Brianna DeMilia earned her seventh win of the season for the Lakers as she made four saves and scooped up two ground balls in the contest.
 
Findlay (12-8, 7-5 GLIAC), who advanced to their first GLIAC Tournament final after knocking off Tiffin on Friday, drew first blood over one minute following the opening draw, but Tunnell assisted on goals from Datema and Neumen to give Grand Valley State their first lead three minutes into the opening stanza of the championship game.
 
Findlay knotted it up at 2-2 shortly after Neumen's goal, but a four-goal run by the hosts would give them their largest lead of the afternoon at the time. Unassisted goals by Neumen and Dosenberry were sandwiched between strikes from Tunnell to put the defending champs ahead with just eight minutes burned off the clock.
 
Findlay ended the GV run at 20:55 of the first half and matched the Lakers goal-for-goal, keeping themselves to within three after goals following Laker tallies by Meghan Datema and Carolyn Kraus before back-to-back Oiler goals within a minute of each other made it a two-goal game.
 
Tunnell buried her third goal of the afternoon at 9:07 of the half to make it a three goal game once again, but Findlay answered right back with a goal in a player-advantage to make it 9-7 with 3:48 remaining in the first half. Neumen cashed in on a pass from Chelsey Bishop to score at 2:54 as neither team could find the back of the net again, and the teams would go into the locker room with the Lakers on top 10-7.
 
The Oilers kept the pressure on GV as they opened the scoring three minutes into the second half to bring them back to within two. But Tunnell's fourth goal of the contest on a breakaway following a turnover by the Findlay goalkeeper and a Skomial goal off an excellent pass by Kali Heller-Spencer put the Lakers ahead by four before the Oilers brought it back down to three over five minutes into the second half.
 
GV scored three straight goals inside of four minutes to widen their lead even further. Neumen connected with Skomial for the junior's second goal of the day, while Kraus fed Dosenberry from behind the cage for a strike, and Tunnell hit Bishop right on the doorstep of the goal on a fast-break to make it 14-9 with 20:53 still remaining on the clock.
 
Findlay found the back of the net at 14:35 to bring their deficit down to five, but the GV poured on the pressure at both ends of the field to prevent Findlay from putting another point on the board for the remainder of the game.  A Kelley Fitzgerald shorthanded goal at 10:41 kickstarted a five-goal run for Grand Valley State that would all but solidify their fourth GLIAC Tournament title.
 
Tunnell tickled the twine on a free-position attempt for her fifth goal of the afternoon at 9:00, Skomial buried her shot three minutes later off a pass by Kraus, and Carlyn Shisler ripped one past the Findlay netminder to make it a nine-goal lead with 3:24 to go. Kraus recorded her third assist of the contest on Neumen's fourth tally with 2:33 to go, leaving no doubt that Grand Valley State would win.
 
The Lakers only allowed Findlay to take 20 shots – including only seven in the second half – while taking 31 themselves. They also won the ground ball battle 18-14, pulled down 19 draw controls to Findlay's 14, and committed three fewer turnovers.
 
With the GLIAC Tournament concluded, the Lakers are now setting their sights on the NCAA Tournament. Grand Valley State, ranked fifth in the North Region in the latest NCAA Division II regional rankings released on Wednesday, are looking to become the first North Region team outside the East Coast to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Lakers will discover their fate during the NCAA Division II selection show at 8 pm at ncaa.com.