Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeFreshmen showing their worth in early season wins
After season opening loss, soccer team reels off three consecutive wins
September 14, 2009 —
After being picked to finish third in the GLIAC in the preseason coach’s poll, the Cardinals opened their season with a 1-0 loss to the University of Indianapolis.
In the preseason poll, the Cardinals garnered 35 points, only two behind predicted second place finisher Tiffin University. Grand Valley was picked to win the GLIAC, finishing with 49 points.
After dropping the first game on the road at Indianapolis, the Cardinals traveled to Romeoville, Ill., to take on Lewis University. The Cards garnered their first win of the season, 2-1.
Freshman defender Tiffany Bell scored both goals for the Cardinals in the win. After taking a 1-0 lead on Bell’s first goal, Lewis responded with a goal two minutes later to knot the score at 1-1. Bell later added her second goal of the game, which turned out to be the winning goal.
After playing their first two games on the road, the Cardinals returned home to face off against St. Francis in their home opener. The Cardinals offense exploded for four goals, scoring more goals in the one game than they had total goals on the season in the 4-0 victory.
After a first half in which the Cardinals offense was on the brink of scoring many times, St. Francis managed to hold the Cards at bay, as the score at half was 0-0. The Cardinals managed eight shots on goal, while St. Francis was only able to get off one shot on goal.
Senior midfielder Jaclyn Barret blew the game open in the second half, scoring three of the Cardinals four goals. Two of Barret’s goals came within two minutes of each other. The Cardinals defense also turned in a solid performance, allowing St. Francis to get off only one shot on goal the entire game.
In their next game against Alma, the Cards offense got off to a hot start just as they did against St. Francis in the previous game.
SVSU showed off some of their young talent early in the game as freshman scored their first two goals.
Freshman defender Charley Porter scored the first goal for the Cards, followed by fellow freshman defender Abby Bellamy who notched her first goal of the season and first as a Cardinal. Alma would respond, scoring a goal to cut the Cardinal lead to 2-1, although the Cardinals would score the final three goals of the contest to win, 5-2.
After dropping their first game of the season, the Cardinals have now reeled off three wins in a row to improve their record to 3-1. The Cardinals next four games are on the road.
They return home Sept. 27 for their first home GLIAC match of the season against Ashland University. The game is scheduled for noon.