Box Score
ALLENDALE, Mich. -- The No. 9 Grand Valley State Lakers weathered an early storm and outlasted six-seed Saginaw Valley State Cardinals, 3-0, in the GLIAC Tournament finals to clinch their 11th straight tournament title. Seniors
Sara Stevens,
Tracey McCoy and
Gabriella Mencotti all scored while classmate
Jennifer Steinaway had eight saves to preserve the clean sheet. By winning the tournament the Lakers automatically qualify for the NCAA Tournament, which begins next week. The Lakers had four All-Tournament team members:
Ava Cook,
Cecilia Steinwascher, McCoy and tournament MVP Mencotti.
At the tail-end of a hard-fought first half, the Lakers (18-3-0, 9-0-0 GLIAC) finally broke through with under one minute remaining in the opening period.
Corey Sawall played an excellent ball over the top to put
Ava Cook behind the defense and she rolled the ball from the left corner across the goal mouth to Stevens, who made a well-timed run to the back post and one-timed home the game-winner.
The Lakers doubled their lead less than ten minutes into the second half. Cook played Mencotti through the left side of the defense and Mencotti slid the ball over McCoy for a look at a wide-open net for her fifth goal of the season. A corner kick set up Mencotti's goal when the ball pinged around the box finding Makenna Schoolman, who lofted the ball towards Mencotti for a highlight-reel aerial finish. It was Mencotti's league-leading 26th goal of the season and fifth of the GLIAC Tournament.
Steinaway had eight saves in the match and helped fight off five Saginaw Valley corner kicks. The senior made six saves in the second half to fight off a comeback attempt by the Cardinals and ensure a clean sheet throughout the entire tournament.
The Lakers are already ranked first in the Midwest Region and will find out their final seeding on Monday (Nov. 6) in the selection show at 6:00 PM EST. The top two seeds from the region will serve as host sites for the first two rounds of the tournament next weekend. Visit GVSULakers.com and stay tuned to Lakers social media for updates as they become available for the NCAA Tournament.
