ALLENDALE, Mich. – The No. 1 Grand Valley State women's soccer team hosts a pair of ranked opponents this weekend for their first two home games of the season. The Lakers will face No. 6 Central Missouri on Friday at 7:00 pm and No. 19 Minnesota State on Sunday at 1:00 pm. 
 
The Lakers enter this weekend 2-0 after a pair of weekend shutouts on the road to open the 2022 season. GVSU downed Missouri S&T 3-0, and defeated Maryville 1-0. The Lakers had four different goal scorers that netted their first career goals in a GVSU uniform. 
 
Sophomore's Nina Ferraro and Ryann Fetty each tallied a goal and assist in the first two games. Ferraro scored the game winning goal against Missouri S&T, while Fetty scored the lone goal against Maryville. Freshman Abby Winn and graduate transfer Riley O'Brien found the back of the net in the opener against Missouri S&T for their first career goals in a GVSU uniform. Kendall Robertson earned GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week after starting both games in net, stopping all five shots faced. 
 
Friday will be a United Soccer Coaches Top-10 matchup against the Jennies of Central Missouri. The last time these two powerhouses faced off was last year in the elite eight of the NCAA Tournament. The Lakers defeated Central Missouri 1-0 to advance to the final four where they went on to win the national championship. These two programs have met in the NCAA Tournament six times since 2014 where the Lakers have won five of those six matchups. This will be the second time these two programs will meet in the regular season.
 
No. 6 Central Missouri enters the weekend 2-0 after a pair of home wins. The Jennies defeated Southwest Oklahoma State 3-2 and Oklahoma Baptist 3-1. As a team, the Jennies generated 32 shots, including 15 on goal, while only allowing 17 shots and seven on goal. Redshirt sophomore Caroline Cole netted three goals on 10 shots through the first two games, earning MIAA Offensive Player of the Week. 
 
On Sunday, the Lakers will take on No. 19 Minnesota State. This will be the 12^th meeting between the two programs with the Lakers leading the series 6-2-3. The Lakers won the last meeting against the Mavericks back in the 2019 elite eight of the NCAA Tournament by a score of 5-2. 
 
The Mavericks enter Sunday's contest with a 1-1 record, defeating Missouri Southern 3-1 in their season opener before falling to Central Oklahoma 1-0. Senior Brynn Desens notched a goal and assist in the first two games on four shots. Freshman Addison Clarey and sophomore Mallie Mathis each scored a goal. Senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Rath played all 180 minutes making seven saves on nine shots of goal. 
 
These two matchups against a pair of Top-20 teams will garner national attention as all three teams will look to make a long postseason run this season. This weekend is the final non-conference games before GLIAC play begins next week. For full coverage, including live in-game updates, follow @GVSUSoccer on Twitter and visit gvsulakers.com for links to live stats and video.