ALLENDALE, Mich. -- The No. 6 Grand Valley State Lakers women's soccer team used a balanced attack to dominate the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis, 7-0, Sunday night at the GVSU Soccer Field.
Riko Sagara had a pair of goals and an assist to lead the GVSU attack, one of six Lakers to score in the match. The Lakers are now 2-0 to start the 2018 season while UMSL falls to 1-1 on the young campaign.
Sagara scored the first two goals of the match, starting in the 13' with fancy footwork to dribble through a defender and score into the opposite side netting. She would strike again just eight minutes later after a yellow card just outside the 18-box set up a good look at target. Sagara sent a screamer into the corner netting to double the Laker advantage. After a penalty on the Tritons, Tara Leirman would score convert a half hour into the match for her first goal of the season.
Reigning GLIAC Freshman of the Year,
Ava Cook, got her first goal of the year in the 27' after
Caitie Baron beat her defender in the right wing and laid a perfect pass in front of goal. Baron was involved again just one minute later, taking a well-timed through ball from
Cecilia Steinwascher and turning it goal-ward for a simple finish for
Olivia Trombley to earn her first goal as a Laker. The tic-tac-toe combo gave GVSU a 5-0 lead at the break.
Timia Robinson would add to the lead in the 70' when Sagara feathered a pass through the right side of the Triton back line to give her a clear view of net and she tucked it just inside the far post for a strong finish. Greta DeLoach rounded out the scoring with a screamer from 20 yards out in the 84' after good combination passing led to a perfect pass
Hailey Wentzloff to DeLoach, who did the rest.
The Lakers have started 2-0 on the year for the first time since 2014 and look to keep the impressive start going next Friday (Sept. 7) when they host Ohio Valley at 4:00 PM. The match can be seen live on ESPN3 and GVSULakers.com will have live stats.
