HAMMOND, Ind. – The No. 2 Grand Valley State Lakers blanked the Purdue Northwest Pride, 4-0, Sunday (Sept. 26) afternoon at Dowling Park. The Lakers got a pair of goals from
Alicia White and two assists from
Cecilia Steinwascher in the win. GVSU improves to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in GLIAC play while pitching their fifth straight, and seventh overall, clean sheet.
The Lakers jumped out to the lead before the quarter-hour mark.
Cecilia Steinwascher played a well-timed through ball to get
Caitie Baron alone on the right wing. She lofted a cross towards the far post where
Alicia White was waiting to smash into the top netting.
A few minutes later the wind played a factor, holding up the Pride keeper's punt at the feet of
Stephanie Sturgeon, who was able to side-step a defender then play on
Kennedy Bearden for her sixth goal of the season. The Lakers added a third late in the first half when
Madie Knaggs' free kick near midfield was flicked by
Chantel Carranza on to
Greta DeLoach for the finish.
"Overall, I'm pleased with the result. Any time you can shut out a conference opponent on the road, that's the goal. We did a lot of things well, especially with the wind playing as big a factor as it did today. We did a decent job offensively, but there is still room for improvement in capitalization on chances in both build-up and finishing and it's exciting to see what we can be as this season progresses," head coach
Jim Conlon said after the match.
White put the icing on the cake in the 83' when a throw in from
Cate Brown found Steinwascher behind the defense and she was able to turn the ball back into the middle of the box for White to hammer home.
Callie Rich got the start in net and played the first half with a save in as many opportunites while freshman
Kendall Robertson made a pair of stops in a clean second half to finish off the shutout.
The Lakers are back in action next weekend with a road showdown with Northwood Friday (Oct. 1) in Midland, Michigan then host a top-25 showdown with Ferris State Sunday (Oct. 3) at the GVSU Soccer Field. Stay tuned to GVSULakers.com and @GVSUSoccer on social media all week for coverage.
