The No. 10 Grand Valley State women's lacrosse team won their second game in a row today with a 13-4 road win over Missouri Western State. The Lakers advanced to 4-1 on the year, with one more road game on the schedule before finally opening up at home against Findlay on March 11.
Senior Olivia Esposito scored her eighth goal of the season and the first the goal of the game today, followed by freshmen Halle Nedohin and Ashleigh Rothe and senior Sophia Conroy, who each netted a goal to give GVSU a 4-0 start. Missouri Western State scored their first goal of the game with 2:50 left in the period and didn't score again until the 5:45 mark in the second period. Sophomore goalkeeper Audrey Maloney closed out the first period with a save and the Lakers led 4-1 heading into the second period.
Junior Kate DeYoung and Conroy each netted a goal, followed by a Griffons' goal to make it 6-2. Junior Molly Bursinger scored her first goal of the day with 30 seconds in the second period and closed out the first half with a 7-2 advantage over the Griffons.
Both teams had difficulty scoring to start the second half until Missouri Western struck first and scored at the 8:55 mark. Just a minute later Esposito scored her second goal of the night and with 13 seconds left in the third period, Bursinger netted her second of the game and gave the Lakers a 9-3 edge heading into the final period.
Nedohin and A. Rothe each scored another goal at the start of the fourth, followed by sophomore Hailey Crittenden who scored her fourth goal of the season with 6:30 left in the game. Conroy scored the final goal for the Lakers and the Griffons netted their only goal in the fourth with just 23 seconds left.
Conroy led the way for the Lakers, scoring three goals and recording a ground ball, followed by four Lakers (Esposito, Bursinger, Nedohin, and A. Rothe) who scored two goals a piece. Junior Maggie Hammer recorded three draw controls and senior Leigha Johnson grabbed four ground balls while forcing five turnovers.
The Lakers are back in action tomorrow against the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs at 11:00 AM CST (12:00 PM EST).
