Friday vs. Saginaw Valley State:  Game Notes  l  Live Stats  l ESPN3 Link
Sunday vs. Ohio Dominican:  Live Stats  l ESPN3 Link

ALLENDALE, Mich.-- There's no place like home for the Grand Valley State women's soccer team. If the team's 14-0 home record last season wasn't convincing enough, the Lakers offensive numbers on their home pitch should certainly turn heads. In home matches last season, the Lakers outscored opponents by a 71-4 margin, compared to just 26-4 on the road, and had 10 games in which they score five or more goals, compared to just two such games on the road. Dating back to the 2003 season, GVSU is 142-5-5 in home matches on GVSU Soccer Field, one of the most impressive displays of home field dominance in the nation. 

None of those wins have come this season, however, as the Lakers have started the season playing far from the friendly confines of GVSU Soccer Field, and have an undefeated 3-0-1 record to show for it. Road-tested and coming off a pair of futhlessly efficent offensive performances last weekend in Minnesota, the Lakers are poised to kick off their home season with a pair of all-too-familiar opponents in GLIAC foes Saginaw Valley State and Ohio Dominican. The GLIAC leading Cardinals (5-0) are riding a five game win streak to begin the season, and will come into Friday evening's matchup with Grand Valley State brimming with confidence, while the Ohio Dominican Panthers (1-1-2) will be the second ranked Lakers Sunday afternoon competition. 

Both games can be found on ESPN3 and XFinity 900.

Grand Valley State has gotten off to a strong start this season, and despite a draw with California Polytechnic-Pomona in the opening weekend, sit atop the GLIAC in goals (15) and assists (15), the latter of which is also the fifth most in Division II. One area in which the Lakers have excelled at this season is striking early in games, an area in which they struggled last season. Twelve of the Laker's 15 goals this season have been scored in the first half, and six of those 15 have come before the 20 minute mark. As the Lakers have changed their approach on offense and focused on finding better looks, the efficiency of the offense has improved drastically. 

"We were a lot more focused and played with a lot more urgency in Minnesota, which is a good sign of growth for this group", said head coach Jeff Hosler. " We've talked a lot in the offseason about wanting to work harder to create more quality goal scoring  chances,  and having more layers in our attack, particularly around the box." 

The Laker's patience on the attack was much improved between their opening weekend trip to California, in which they scored three goals in two games, and last weekend's offensive clinic in Minnesota, in which they netted 12 goals in two games. Two big impact players for the Lakers have been forwards Jayma Martin and Gabriella Mencotti. After scoring ten goals apiece last season, the pair is back to their goal scoring ways, as Martin leads the team with five goals and has dished out two assists, and Mencotti has three goals and four assists so far. 

"I thought that a year ago, while we had our best offensive season in school history, I thought we still took the first predictable option too often", Hosler said. "That was a focus for us in the offseason, we talked about the types of chances we created being higher quality, and it came to fruition for us in Minnesota."

Carrying on the sucess of last season means reproducing the successful results at home that became routine for the Lakers. Saginaw Valley State will come in hungry and ready to challenge the Lakers as they rebound from last year's underwhelming 6-10 season. Third year coach Michael O'Neill has the Cardinals chomping at the bit and scoring with regularity, netting 14 goals in five games, including seven strikes from senior midfielder Ashley Henderson, which leads the GLIAC. 

"I expect to see a very confident group in Saginaw", said Hosler. "They've clearly rebounded very well from last season. They're focused, they're scoring goals and defending well, so I think both sides will be very eager to get that match underway Friday night."

Senior goalkeeper Claire Spleth and the Cardinals defense will look to challenge the Lakers offense, fresh off their offensive showing in Minnesota. SVSU has registered shutouts in four of their games so far, yielding just two goals in 450 minutes of play. As Henderson claimed the Offensive Player of the Week awards, Cardinals defender Bria Spraggins claimed the conference defensive honors, leading the defense to a trio of shutouts with only two shots on goal allowed. 

On Sunday, the Lakers will play host to the Panthers of Ohio Dominican in what will also be a non-conference matchup, as is the SVSU game. The 2016 season is also the last time the Lakers will play the Panthers in regular season conference competition, as Ohio Dominican will be joining the GMAC after the 2016 season. ODU is 1-1-2 on the season, having played several close games leading up to a 13-0 rout of Salem International on Sunday. Ohio Dominican set school records  in total goals (13) and goals in a half (7) in the win over the Tigers, who led all Division II schools in goals allowed last season, and finished 2-20. 

The Panthers have a strong core of returning players back from last season's roster for the first season under new head coach Aimee Haywood. Last season's leading scorer Alli Pavlik returns, and is one of three Panthers with two goals on the young season. ODU has gotten a strong joint effort between the sticks from two goalkeepers, junior Kelsey Harris and sophomore Marissa Wierzbicki. Wierzbicki has started all four games for Ohio Dominican, but has seen less time on the field than Harris. Together, the pair have accounted for 22 saves and three goals allowed, sporting a 1-1-2 record through four games.

"Ohio Dominican has a new coach, so while there will be some nuances that we're familiar with, there will also be differences", adds Hosler. "I thought their previous coach, Jonathan, was a great tactician, and gave us very different looks in their game plan every time to keep us guessing, and with Amiee having worked underneath him the past couple years, I'm sure she'll employ some of those tactics as well."

Having opened the season with two opponents the Lakers have never played before in program history, and a third opponent who they've only played twice, it will be a welcome change to see some familiar foes on the home pitch this weekend. Having gotten the better of both teams over the course of the all-time series certainly bodes well for the Lakers this time around, but the familiarity with GLIAC opponents can be a double edged sword. 

"There's a measure of comfort in familiar opponents, knowing what they do and their personnel, but at the same time, those opponents feel the same way about us", explains Hosler. "It's going to be very important that we get off to another quick start in that match, control possession and be dangerous. If we can unlock defenses and start early, then that recipe's going to set us up for success this year."

In recent years, the Lakers have set enough of a precedent for home matches and the likely outcome, but to assume victory without effort would be folly. Veterans on this year's team no doubt remember the sting of the 0-1 loss suffered to Ohio Dominican in the 2014 season at GVSU Soccer Field, ending the Lakers 69-match home unbeaten streak, which dated back to 2008. There is little doubt that those players will be keen to avoid dropping another home match on their watch, and will be looking to replicate last season's perfect home record.