No. 1 Grand Valley State 7, Findlay 0
ALLENDALE, Mich. -- Not even the top two scorers in the GLIAC could find a way to solve the Grand Valley State defense. The No. 1 Lakers extended their shutout streak to 12 matches with a 7-0 victory aginast Findlay on Friday night.
The run of scoreless matches is now tied for the third-longest in NCAA Division II history. Senior goalkeeper Abbey Miller continued an impressive streak of her own as well. She has now played 1127:57 consecutive minutes without surrendering a goal, which is a GVSU record. It is also the third-longest streak in the Division II record book.
After Findlay managed to pressure the GVSU defense in the opening minutes, the Oilers never had a legitimate scoring opportunity for the remainder of the match.
Once the backline stifled Findlay's forwards, the Lakers began to catch fire at the offensive end of the pitch.
In the 10th minute, freshman forward Kendra Stauffer broke the scoreless tie with a shot from the top of the box to beat the Oilers' keeper. Junior forward Jenny Shaba notched an assist on the play and followed it up with a goal of her own just 25 seconds later.
The quick-strike scoring was put on display late in the 37th minute, too. Redshirt freshman forward Olivia Emery drew the keeper out of the goal, which left Katie Bounds with an open net. Emery dished to Bounds for the easy finish. At the 38:33 mark, Shelby Humphries scored her fourth goal of the year to put GVSU up 4-0.
Humphries added another goal with just five seconds remaining in the half as she headed a corner kick past the Findlay keeper. Freshman midfielder Marti Corby tacked on another goal in the 80th minute to cap the evening.
Once again, GVSU held a significant advantage in shots. The Lakers outshot Findlay 28-5 and only yielded one shot in the second stanza.
The victory also extended GVSU's streak of home matches without a loss to 57, which ties the second longest run in Division II history.
No. 3 Minnesota State-Mankato 7, St. Cloud St. 2
MANKATO, Minn. -- Third-ranked Minnesota State scored three goals in the initial 26 minutes as six different Mavericks scored in MSU's 7-2 victory aginst St. Cloud St. in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action Friday afternoon at The Pitch.
The win is Minnesota State-Mankato's ninth in a row and elevates it to 12-1-0 overall and 10-0-0 in the NSIC. St. Cloud St. drops to 6-6-1 on the year and 3-6-1 within the league. The Purple and Gold also stretches its conference and home unbeaten streak to 30 matches. Those streaks are tied for 12th- and 14th-best all-time, respectively, in NCAA Division II.
Senior Tori Meinhardt opened the scoring for the Mavericks in the 13th minute when she buried a cross from sophomore Korey Kronforst into the right side for her third goal of the year. Just more than a minute later, junior Bre Steele drilled a free kick that junior Emily Moris headed past SCSU sophomore Brittany Plombon for her second marker of the season.
Minnesota State extended its cushion to three goals in the 26th minute off sophomore Emily Erickson's first career goal. At the break, MSU owned a 19-4 lead in shots.
Kronforst put the match away for the Mavericks in the beginning of the second half with her conference-leading 13th and 14th goals of the season. In the 48th minute, she had her initial shot blocked after a pass from Courtney Vallarelli but connected on the rebound. The duo struck again in the 59th minute when Vallarelli played a centering pass that Kronforst headed in for her second marker of the match.
St. Cloud State sophomore Michelle Cornell responded for the Huskies with a pair of headers in the 61st and 73rd minutes, respectively, to slice the lead to 5-2. However, the Mavericks answered with two goals of their own from freshmen Kiana Nickel and Maddy Smith. Nickel netted her fifth goal of the season in the 79th minute off an assist from Smith, before Smith found her sixth goal of the year in the 86th minute after a pass from freshman Karissa Prpich to complete the 7-2 final.
Vallarelli's three helpers in the contest were a personal career-high as MSU outshot St. Cloud St. 34-10 in the affair. The Mavericks also owned an 18-4 lead in shots on goal and 5-2 edge in corner kicks.
Junior Molly McGough registered a pair of saves in a winning effort, while Plombon stopped a match-high six shots for SCSU.
No. 5 Colorado Mines 1, Fort Lewis 0
GOLDEN, Colo. -– In a clash of top RMAC foes and likely postseason participants, No. 5 Colorado School of Mines emerged 1-0 victors against Fort Lewis on Friday.
Ending the deadlock with 8:26 remaining was senior Bree Archuleta who put a charge in a header at front net following a low, left wing cross from freshman Cari Smith and popped up deflection by senior Anna Evans.
Archuleta moved into a four-way tie for second on Mines with four goals and is one off the team lead with two game-winners.
The first team to outshoot the Orediggers this season, Fort Lewis (10-3, 6-3 RMAC) held an 8-7 edge in shots, while Mines finished with a 5-3 advantage in shots on target. Each team attempted three corner kicks.
Freshman Anna Deleray tied for the game-high with both of her shots on goal. Archuleta, Evans and sophomore Mel Westhoff each tallied one.
Keeper Jayln Yates stopped three looks, pushing her win-loss mark to 13-0-1 and pulling within five of matching Briana Schulze (26; 2007-10) for the program lead in career shutouts with her 21st over the last two seasons.
The women continued their ascent in the Division II record book, climbing into seventh all-time in longest unbeaten streaks at 28 games. Mines (13-0-1, 10-0 RMAC) is one game away from entering the top-25 in consecutive conference matches without a loss with 20.
No. 6 West Florida 2, Union (Tenn.) 0
JACKSON, Tenn. -- Sixth-ranked West Florida remained undefeated on the season with a 2-1 victory on the road at Union (Tenn.) in Gulf South Conference play. The Argonauts extended their unbeaten streak to 23 and their winning streak to five.
UWF (8-0-3, 5-0-1 GSC) kept Union (4-4-3, 2-2-2) off the scoreboard for 75 minutes but was unable to secure its fifth consecutive shutout. UWF has now outscored its past eight opponents 18-2.
Seniors Chelsea Palmer and Shelby Bush hooked up for the Argos’ first goal in the 15th minute. Palmer sent a well-placed corner kick into the box and Bush headed it in for the goal to put UWF up 1-0.
Senior Sashana Campbell then gave UWF some insurance eight minutes later with her fourth goal in the last three matches. Palmer sent a pass to Campbell at the top of the box who shot into the left corner of the net to put UWF up 2-0 at the 23:28 mark.
Palmer has five assists in the past two matches.
UWF held Union to just five shots, and one on frame, but a rare miscue by the Argo defense allowed Union a shot in the box with 14:19 remaining in regulation, and the Bulldogs took advantage to cut the lead to 2-1.
No. 7 Columbus State 2, Valdosta State 1
COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Seventh-ranked Columbus State used an 81st minute goal by freshman Taylor Marks to upend Valdosta State University 2-1 Friday afternoon in a non-conference match at the Walden Soccer Complex.
With time running out in a 1-1 contest, the Lady Cougars earned a corner kick with just 10 minutes left in the match. Marks dished off a short corner to Kelsey Pelletier who played the ball into the box. The ball was headed back out to Marks on the left side of the field. The freshman then proceeded to dribble a few feet into the box and fired a bender into the right portion of the net for the game-winner. It was Marks' fourth goal of the season.
"That was a big time shot by Taylor," 10-year head coach Jay Entlich said. "We needed something to lift us to the victory and she did exactly that."
Columbus State (10-3-0) was in comeback mode from the start as the Blazers took an early 1-0 lead. In the eighth minute, Aline Friedrich lined up for a corner kick and played a perfect ball into the box for Deysla Reyes. Reyes headed the ball into the goal for the 1-0 VSU lead.
In the 20th minute, Pelletier pushed an attack into the box and earned a penalty kick after a VSU player touched the ball with her hand. The captain lined up for the penalty kick and successfully capped off the attempt to tie the match.
Coming out of the break, Columbus State was on the attack early. In the 50th minute, Chelsea Person ran up the right side of the field and into the box firing a dangerous shot that Olivia Mills saved but couldn't corral. Nicole Corcione slid for a shot but Mills was there again to keep the match tied.
In the 74th minute, Valdosta State (8-2-3) almost scored an own goal as a player played the ball back to Mills. Mills had to make a diving save but the play resulted in an indirect free kick just two yards from the net. Person stepped up for the kick and a Blazer player deflected it into safety.
Columbus State continued to press on until Marks found the goal to extended CSU's winning streak to seven matches.
"It was an important win for us but we have to keep improving especially on the defensive side of the ball," Entlich said. "Set plays are continuing to hurt us and sooner or later it will catch up to us."
Sophomore goalkeeper Meosha Hatcher made four saves to improve to 9-1-0 this season while Mills fell to 8-2-3.
Overall, the Lady Cougars held a 15-6 shot advantage including a 9-2 edge in the second half.
No. 10 Cal State Stanislaus 2, Cal State Monterey Bay 0
SEASIDE, Calif. — Cal State Stanislaus rolled into Monterey Bay on Friday and the results are familiar and positive for the 10th-ranked Warriors, who remain unbeaten after their 2-0 win against Cal State Monterey Bay.
Karenee Demery scored for the fifth consecutive match as the Warriors improved to 11-0-2 overall and 9-0-2 in the CCAA. Pending Sonoma State's results at Chico State Friday night, the Warriors hold at least an eight-point lead in the North Division standings.
The victory is the Warriors' seventh in a row against the Otters in Seaside and they are now 21-2 overall and 18-2 during conference play against CSUMB.
"Winning in the CCAA on the road is always a great accomplishment. I was very pleased with our toughness and effort," said CSUS head coach Gabriel Bolton.
The Warriors only needed Demery's first half goal, that happened in the 15th minute, to earn the road win. Demery flipped the shot over the Otters goalkeeper after getting a great ball from Tina Benson who was awarded the assist.
For Demery, it was already her 16th of the season as she closes in on her own school record of 19 goals in a season — a feat she did twice, both as a freshman in 2010 and last season in 2012. She has scored at least a goal in five consecutive matches. In fact, she's scored in all but three matches this season.
Jordan Moineau added a second Stanislaus goal before the end of the half on a header score that came from an Emily Relles corner kick to make it 2-0.
"We talked a lot this week about always giving an effort we are proud of and today we did that," Bolton said.
The shutout is the Warriors' sixth of the year and goalkeeper Chelsea Lewandowski picked up five saves on Friday.
