ALLENDALE, Mich. – The No. 4 Grand Valley State Lakers women's soccer team heads to the state of Ohio for two GLIAC contests this weekend. The Lakers will travel to Ashland University on Friday, October 6, for a 4:30 p.m. contest with the Eagles (AUDIO | VIDEO | STATS) before taking on the Tiffin Dragons on Sunday, October 8, at 12:00 p.m. (AUDIO | VIDEO | STATS).
 
Grand Valley State (8-2, 3-0 GLIAC) has won eight straight matches, all via shutout, including the first three of GLIAC play in 2017. The Lakers have outscored their opponents, 33-0, during the streak and the eight shutouts this season are tied for fourth-most in Division II. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Jennifer Steinaway (Pinckney, Michigan) leads the GLIAC this season with a 0.71 goals against average and six goals allowed. The Lakers have not conceded a goal in 730 minutes, holding opponents scoreless since an 80' goal by Columbus State on September 4.
 
"Opening weekend definitely exposed our weaknesses and gave us some clear ideas to come back and focus on," said head coach Jeff Hosler. "You never want to lose a game but I think it certainly gave us the opportunity to really examine where we're at, where we need to go, and the amount of growth we had to have in order to be as effective as we want to be. And we're on a better course now, but all those problems haven't been resolved."
 
Offensively, the Lakers rank 4^th nationally in total goals (35) and 5^th in points per game (3.50), while ranking 6^th in total points (95), 7^th in points per game (9.50) and 8^th in assists per game (2.50). The Lakers 95 goals entering the weekend are 45 more than any other GLIAC club. Senior forward Gabriella Mencotti (Novi, Michigan) leads the way offensively, tallying a league-best nine goals and 20 points. Mencotti has taken 66 shots this season, which is 25 more than any other GLIAC player. Despite the lofty numbers, Hosler is still looking for more steady play from his squad headed into the weekend.
 
"We're striving for consistency. That's something we haven't accomplished through a full training session or a full match yet. I think if we have all of our kids playing well at the same time then we have a very good side. Until we do that, we're allowing teams to look really good through stretches and we've just got to manage that better," said Hosler.
 
The Lakers have already faced both weekend opponents this season, with Grand Valley State earning non-conference wins in Allendale just three weeks ago. The freshness of those matches is something Hosler says poses a challenge in its own right.
 
"You know a lot more about your opponent. You know a lot more about their system of play and personnel. You have to be able to make some adjustments from that first time around and adjust to your opponent's adjustments," said Hosler. "It's unusual to have to turn around on three weeks' notice to do it. Usually you have six weeks and the teams are a lot different. I think that fact alone is going to make these games much more difficult than the first time around."

First place in the conference is on the line Friday when the Lakers take on Ashland (6-3-1, 3-0 GLIAC) at Ferguson Field. The Eagles have won four straight games and are coming off a 4-0 win at Purdue-Northwest. The Lakers beat Ashland, 3-0, earlier this season. Mencotti had the game-winner in the ninth minute of the win that moved the Lakers above .500 for the first time this season. Freshmen Ava Cook (Battle Creek, Michigan) and Cecilia Steinwascher (Sterling Heights, Michigan) each also scored in the win. Despite the positive result, Hosler says the Eagles will require Grand Valley State's full attention to get another win.
 
"They're always a dangerous side and they have Morgan Bittengle, who's been rounding into form over the last week," said Hosler. "She's one of the more dangerous one-on-one goal scoring threats in the league. We're going to have our work cut out for us. We're going to have to execute our goal-scoring opportunities much better than we did the last two times out and see how it goes."
 
A pair of seniors pace the Ashland attack this season. Bittengle (Pickerington, Ohio), the reigning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week, has scored a team-high five goals in seven games and Kelsey McKernan (Brighton, Michigan) leads the team with six assists. Bittengle currently ranks third in Ashland history with 40 career goals.
 
Tiffin (3-6-1, 2-1 GLIAC) dropped their first conference game, 1-0, to Ashland before rebounding for two straight wins, coming off a 2-1 result in double overtime at Davenport. Svetlana Gudenkova (Columbus, Ohio) netted the game-winner midway through the second overtime period. It was her fourth goal of the season, matching fellow senior Adrianna Currie (Brampton, Canada) for the team lead.
 
The Lakers thumped the Dragons, 9-0, at home in September. Mencotti again had the game-winner in the shutout, scoring the first two goals of the contest within 45 seconds of each other at the 8' and 9' mark. Hosler says he doesn't expect the same kind of lopsided result in Ohio this Sunday.
 
"Tiffin will be a much more difficult task this time around. They have a kid that's a very capable playmaker and goal scorer in Gudenkova up top. Their goalkeeper is an elite player at that position in our league who just had a bad day in Allendale three weeks ago," Hosler said.
 
The Lakers return home on Wednesday, October 8, to take on Florida Tech at 7:00 p.m. at the GVSU Soccer Field. Grand Valley looks for revenge after the Panthers claimed a win in Allendale last season. The first 1,000 students through the gates will receive a free Lakers Soccer scarf (TICKETS).