ASHLAND, Ohio – The Grand Valley State women's soccer team will look to claim their 16^th Midwest Regional Championship in program history Friday (Dec. 1) when they travel to take on the one seeded Ashland Eagles at 6:00 PM in Ashland, Ohio. The winner will advance to the NCAA Elite Eight to take on the winner of the Central Region between Emporia State and Washburn on Sunday (Dec. 3) at 3:00 PM. 
 
The Lakers defeated McKendree in the first round of the tournament 3-0 before defeating Maryville 2-1 in the second round to advance to the sweet sixteen. Stephanie Sturgeon has scored three goals through the first two games in the NCAA Tournament all off corner kicks. Avery Lockwood notched a goal and assist in the win over McKendree including the game winning goal for her third of the season. Abby Winn assisted on the game winning goal against Maryville and now leads the team with four assists on the season.
 
Kacy Lauer and Taylor Reid lead the Lakers with four goals and three assists for 11 points each. Ryann Fetty has notched three goals and dished out three assists for nine points on the season. Fetty scored the game winning goal against Maryville to help the Lakers advance to the regional championship round. Goalkeeper Isabel Imes has made 17 starts in goal for the Lakers this season. Imes has made 34 saves and has notched five shutouts and one combined shutout. 
 
This will be the second time the Lakers and Eagles will meet this season. The two teams opened the season against each other in Allendale where Ashland defeated GVSU 1-0. The Lakers lead the all-time series 20-11-2. 
 
Ashland earned the one seed in the Midwest Region after posting a 17-0-4 record heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles defeated Michigan Tech 3-0 in the first round and Cedarville 2-0 in the second round to advance to the regional finals and improving to 19-0-4 on the season. 
 
Ashland has outscored their opponents 55-4 on the season and have posted 19 clean sheets. The Eagles lead the country defensively with a .951 save percentage and .826 shutout percentage. Ashland also ranks fifth in the country with 5.76 corner kicks per game. 
 
The Eagles are led by sophomore forward Dani Hicks who earned All-GMAC first team honors. Hicks has scored nine goals and dished out seven assists for 25 points including four game winning goals on the season. Junior midfielder Merrik Mihalek was named the GMAC Defensive Player of the Year and has notched seven goals and dished out five assists for 19 points. Mihalek has scored three game winning goals and has notched two penalty kick goals. Senior goalkeeper Mackenzie Simon has made 14 starts in goal for the Eagles posting a 13-0-1 record making 38 saves. Simon leads the country with a .927 save percentage and .220 goals-against average. 
 
The game will be streamed live on the GMAC Sports Network. Visit gvsulakers.com for links to live video and live stats. Follow @GVSUSoccer on Twitter for live in-game updates all weekend long.