Sept. 2, 2006

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Allendale, Mich. -

Grand Valley State's Women's Soccer team posted a 6-0 win against Wheeling Jesuit Saturday afternoon in Allendale. Sophomore Katy Tafler tallied her second hat trick in as many games and fellow sophomore Ashley Elsass recorded two goals of her own in the win. The Lakers will now travel to Romeoville, Ill. to take on Lewis in a regional match on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 4 pm.

It was a tale of two halves for the Lakers Saturday afternoon as GVSU struggled in the opening stanza before scoring six goals in the second half for the win. Grand Valley outshot Wheeling Jesuit 14-3 in the opening frame but were only able to put six of those shots on goal. Elsass opened the scoring less than five minutes into the second half when the Cardinal's keeper turned the ball over at the top of the box and Elsass fired a shot past her to go up 1-0.

Junior Sue Christenson made it a 2-0 contest in the 52nd minute when she finished off a corner kick from Kourtney Willert with a header from five yards out. Tafler scored her first goal of the match at the 59 minute mark when she cleaned up a mess in front of the goalie after a cross had been knocked down and a previous shot had been deflected. Willert drilled another perfect corner kick a minute and a half later that was headed in Elsass to give the Lakers a 4-0 lead.

A little over a minute later, Tafler made it 5-0 when she received a perfect pass from defender Emily Berner and dribbled around the keeper and drove the ball into the net. Tafler finished off her hat trick in the 66th minute when Natalja Stanski forced a turnover in the defensive backfield and fed the ball nicely to Tafler who provided the final margin.

Sophomore Kristina Nasturzio recorded five saves on the day to earn her first shutout of the season and 13th of her career. The Lakers have yet to allow a goal on the season and have faced just nine shots on the year. GVSU has scored 22 goals on the year and are averaging more than seven goals a game after posting back-to-back 8-0 victories to open the season.

GVSU will now take its show on the road by taking on Lewis (Sept. 2), Charleston (Sept. 9), Concord (Sept. 10), and Morehead State (Sept. 17) before returning home Sept. 22 to open the GLIAC schedule against Northwood.