 |
 |
 |
Aug. 29, 2008
Allendale, Mich. - Grand Valley State University's women's soccer team opened the 2008 season with a bang, defeating the defending national champions the University of Tampa 1-0 on Friday. The No. 3 Lakers got a goal from junior Irie Dennis in the 27th minute and a shutout from senior Kristina Nasturzio in the win. GVSU will retake the field on Sunday, Aug. 31 against Southern Indiana University at 2:30 p.m.
Sophomore Kristen Eible took the first shot of the game at the 3:01 mark, but Spartan goalkeeper Kandall Bourdon made the save to keep the match scoreless early. Grand Valley State controlled the play and Ashley Elsass, Katy Tafler and Meaghan Robinson all took shots that were off the mark. The Lakers' next shot on goal was a big one, as Dennis made a couple of moves 20 yards out from the net and then buried her shot in the left side of the net to make it 1-0.
Nasturzio kept the Lakers ahead when she made a save diving to her left against Courtney Evans in the 35th minute of the match. Nasturzio needed only the one save for the shutout, while Bourdon made six saves in the losing effort. The only caution of the match came in the 80th minute, when Shelby Kuni was shown the yellow after a hard tackle on sophomore Jenna Wenglinski.
Grand Valley State and Tampa met in the previous two seasons, both times in the NCAA National Semifinals. In 2006, the Lakers took a 2-0 decision, while the Spartans ended GVSU's perfect season 2-1 in 2007. The Lakers are now 1-0-0 to start the season and take on the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles, who lost to Ferris State in an earlier match, on Sunday afternoon. Kick-off is slated for 2:30 p.m.
|
|
 |
