HAMMOND, Ind. – The No. 2 Grand Valley State Lakers struck early and often in a 10-0 road win over the Purdue Northwest Pride in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) opener Friday afternoon. Madeline Becker recorded her first career hat-trick, one of seven different Lakers to score in the win. Tara Lierman had a goal and dished out four assists, matching the GVSU single-match record. GVSU pitches their eighth straight shutout to improve to 8-0-1 on the season and 1-0 in the GLIAC while the Pride drop to 2-8 overall and 0-3 in the league.
 
The Lakers have now scored in double figures eight times in program history, including once in each of the last three seasons. GVSU got on the board in the 12' when Lierman went top shelf off a feed from Riko Sagara. Less than a minute later, Becker got her first of the day when she banged home a rebound after Lierman's shot was saved by the PNW keeper. Then, just a few minutes later in 15', Ava Cook struck an aerial shot past the keeper after a combo from Lierman and Cecilia Steinwascher led to a wide-open look.

"I'm really proud of the way the girls came to play from the opening whistle today," said head coach Jeff Hosler. "That's something we really struggled with a couple weeks back, but the last three matches have been great starts."
 
Cook would score again in the 22' on a long-range liner after a right-wing feed from Darline Radamaker. Becker then struck in rapid succession in the 28' and 30' for her first hat-trick of her career – all within the first half-hour of the match – to give her six goals in her last three matches. Radamaker was provider on the first, she had two assists on the day, while Sagara and Lierman combined to set up the latter.
 
"Getting my first hat-trick this season was a lot of fun," Becker said after the match. "I've been working on getting into the right places at the right time and it's starting to pay off."
 
Sagara would strike a free kick into the upper 90 from just outside the penalty area later in the half and Raemi DeWent scored her first career goal to round out the first with an 8-0 lead. Chelsea Graves added to the lead in the 50' when a through-ball from Sagara allowed her to beat the keeper to the ball and roll it under her diving effort into the net. Kristy Gomez scored her first goal of the season in the 68' on assists from Lierman and Olivia Trombley to hit the double-digit mark.

"We had a lot of really good attacking moments and a lot of players get in the box score today. Riko, Tara and Becks were something special," Hosler said. 
 
The Lakers look to continue their hot start to GLIAC play Sunday (Sept. 30) when they make their first trip to first-year GLIAC member Wisconsin-Parkside since the 2014 NCAA post-season. The match kicks off at 3:30 ET (2:30 CT in Kenosha, Wis.) and GVSULakers.com will provide links to live stats and video while @GVSUSoccer will live-Tweet the match.