SAN BERNARDINO, Ca.—The top ranked Grand Valley State women's soccer team made a strong statement in its season opener on Friday, scoring a pair of early goals and coasting to a 2-0 victory at California State San-Bernardino. Junior midfielder Dani Johnson scored her first goal of the season just seven minutes into the game, connecting from eight yards out on an assist by senior Kendra Stauffer as the Lakers came out firing against the Coyotes. 
 
Senior Jayma Martin doubled the lead at the 18 minute mark, scoring after a scrum in front of the goal. Stauffer was there to assist on that goal, as well as junior forward Gabriella Mencotti.
 
The Lakers (1-0) outpaced their opponents in shots (18-6) and shots on goal (12-3), leading to numerous scoring opportunities. A pair of defensive saves by Coyote defenders saved would-be goals by the Lakers in short succession at the 15' and 15:30 marks, and a Mencotti strike at 18' was also blocked away by the defense.

"Our wingers were really dangerous today, picking out players and getting into the box", said GVSU head coach Jeff Hosler. "Dani scored a great goal early on, and Kendra Stauffer made a great run to set up the second goal ,beating her defender with a long run before she crossed it in to Gabby (Mencotti), who then passed it over to Jayma for the score." 
 
The Coyotes nearly struck back shortly before halftime, as a Laker foul awarded their opponents a penalty kick. The attempt by Cal State's Rachael Figg scored, but was waved off because a player had entered the box too early. On a second attempt, Figg was denied by sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Steinaway, preserving what would end up as her first career shutout. Steinaway would finish the game with three saves in the clean sheet, having faced five shots in total.

"I thought we did some things really well, coming out here and getting off on the right foot with an early 2-0 lead", added Hosler. "Having a shutout in the opener is a really strong performance for us as well. I thought Jenn Steinaway came up big for us with the penalty kick save to keep them off the board."
 
The second half featured opportunities to score by both teams, including a hard shot from Stauffer off the crossbar in the 86th minute, but neither side could find the back of the net, and the game would end with a 2-0 margin.
 
Grand Valley State returns to action on Sunday, September 4th, as the team travels to Pomona, California to face the Broncos of California Polytechnic-Pomona at 2:00 P.M Eastern Time. The Broncos  (0-1) dropped their opening match of the season to Point Loma by a 2-1 score.