The No. 5 Grand Valley State University soccer team (1-0-1) took on the Bemidji State University Beavers (1-0-1) at Scheels Field in Mankato, Minnesota, on Friday, Sept. 4.<\/p>\n
The two programs had not met since 2019, when the then-No. 1 Lakers defeated the Beavers 2-0 behind goals from Chantel Carranza and Caitie Baron.<\/p>\n
GVSU entered Friday\u2019s matchup following a 3-1 victory over Cedarville University in its home opener. Junior defender Vesna Dennison scored twice in the win, while sophomore forward Ava Kozak added another goal.<\/p>\n
Against Bemidji State, the Lakers struck first in the 21st minute.<\/p>\n
Senior midfielder Sonya Mehta found the back of the net at the 20:42 mark off an assist from graduate forward Lina Rea, giving GVSU an early 1-0 advantage. The lead lasted just over three minutes. Bemidji State defender Maggie Kramer scored off an assist from midfielder Ella Wade at the 23:53 mark, tying the match at 1-1.<\/p>\n
\u201cCredit to Jim (Stone, head coach of Bemidji State) and Bemidji,\u201d said GVSU head coach Katelyn Longino. \u201cThey were elite out of the air and off of set pieces. They caught us and scored directly off that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after the equalizer, the match was suspended due to excessive heat. The lengthy delay forced the Lakers to adjust both physically and mentally before returning to the field later that evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, we talk about responding to adversity and challenges and how valuable that is,\u201d Longino said. \u201cIt was really about managing the rest of the day from what meals we were eating to how we were taking care of our bodies, to what rest we were getting and what micro adjustments we would make tactically after playing 20 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Play resumed around 8 p.m., with the teams picking up where they left off in the first half.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe played about 25 minutes of the first half, and then the game got suspended,\u201d Mehta said. \u201cWe had a few areas that, after the heat delay, we cleaned up and talked about. We made some adjustments that were going to lead to our success as a team and then spent those eight hours refueling, recovering, and planning to come out and be fresher off the start of the kickoff.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lakers continued to control possession and generate scoring opportunities after play resumed. The Lakers outshot Bemidji State 13-3 in the first half, including a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal.<\/p>\n
Mehta nearly put the Lakers back in front in the 32nd minute when GVSU was awarded a penalty kick, but Bemidji State goalkeeper Rozlyn Buettner made the save to keep the match tied.<\/p>\n
Mehta led the Lakers with six shots and four shots on goal in the opening half, but the team entered halftime tied 1-1.<\/p>\n
GVSU continued to pressure the Beavers in the second half, firing another 13 shots while holding Bemidji State to just two.<\/p>\n
Despite the Lakers controlling much of the match, neither side could break the tie as the clock moved into the final minutes.<\/p>\n
Then, Mehta struck again.<\/p>\n
At the 84:39 mark, Kozak and Rea helped set up Mehta, who scored her second goal of the match to give GVSU a late 2-1 advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a feeling that Sonya\u2019s one of the best players that sits in those half spaces, getting quick trigger shots and their movement off the ball,\u201d Longino said. \u201cIt was a great cleanup by Lena, Ava Kozak sat back, and Sonya was able to finish it in two touches.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Lakers\u2019 defense held on over the final five minutes to secure the 2-1 victory and improve to 2-0-1 on the season.<\/p>\n
GVSU controlled the match statistically, outshooting Bemidji State 26-5 and holding an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal. Mehta finished with a game-high nine shots, six shots on goal and both of the Lakers\u2019 goals. Rea recorded assists on both goals, while Kozak added an assist on the game-winner.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single person on the field was playing unbelievable on our team, everyone was playing for each other and we came out with such a different energy,\u201d Mehta said. \u201cShe (Coach Longino) had us work on being gritty, having fun and being creative in the final 3rd, and I think we played free up and tried to make some things happen as a group. I thought we executed very well as a team, and we were all very happy with the results.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up next, the Lakers will remain in Mankato for a matchup against No. 16 Minnesota State University (2-0) on Sunday, Sept. 6, at 4 p.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The No. 5 Grand Valley State University soccer team (1-0-1) took on the Bemidji State University Beavers (1-0-1)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":886741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,561,82],"class_list":["post-886740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/886741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}