No. 2 GVSU Tops No. 3 Armstrong in Opener

by Amanda Murphy
August 31, 2012

ALLENDALE, Mich. – The No. 2 Grand Valley State women’s soccer team tallied two goals in an eight minute stretch to snap a 1-1 tie to down No. 3 Armstrong Atlantic State, 3-1, on a warm Friday evening at the GVSU Soccer Field.

The Lakers extend their home-unbeaten streak to 38 games dating back to Nov. 21, 2008, while also improving their home opening record to 13-4.

Grand Valley State wasted little time finding the back of the net as senior forward Kayla Addison (Southfield, Mich.) took advantage of a one-on-one chance in the box and fired her shot to the lower right corner to give GVSU a 1-0 lead just a minute and 51 seconds into the game.

Armstrong answered back in the 20th minute taking advantage of a slight misstep in the Laker defense. Kristina Pascutti sent her shot to the lower left corner to knot the score, 1-1.

The teams battled over the next 10 minutes with the Pirates tallying three shots to the Lakers four. However, it was GVSU that would strike again as senior forward Ashley Botts (Beloit, Wisc.) knocked in her first goal of the season at 30:11.

Grand Valley State added on one more goal in the first half when senior Maria Brown (Livonia, Mich.) crossed a ball in front of the goal line that found its way into the lower right corner past keeper Meghan Mayville for a 3-1 lead.

GVSU outshot the Pirates 13-5 in the first half while also taking four corner kicks to Armstrong’s one.

The second half was quite different as the teams combined for just nine shots in the last 45 minutes. The Laker defense did not back down when the Pirates went on the attack.

For the game, GVSU keeper senior Chelsea Parise (Sterling Heights, Mich.) picked up four saves. Armstrong’s Mayville got tagged with the loss, picking up three saves. Maggie Carson and Morgan Luckie also saw time in the net, tallying two saves each.

Botts had six of the Lakers 18 shots, putting three on target, while Pascutti led the Pirates, firing six of nine with three on net.

GVSU is back in action on Sunday, Sept. 2 against Indianapolis at 1:30 p.m. UIndy topped Ferris State, 3-2, in a double-overtime contest on Friday afternoon.

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