GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The Davenport women's lacrosse team was hoping to pick up their first win in the conference on Thursday afternoon against No. 19 Grand Valley State. The Lakers played great defense and extended their record to 8-3 overall and 3-0 in the GLIAC with a 12-3 decision against the Panthers. GVSU was able to keep Davenport to nine goals below their season average of 12 in this contest.
The second half is where this game changed. Davenport trailed 4-2 at halftime but it was a 2-2 score midway through the first quarter.
Ele Darmofal scored her fifth goal of the season at the 9:43 mark and
Blakely Malpass scored her 23rd goal of the season at the 6:49 mark. The second quarter was a lockdown one as GVSU scored the only goal at 8:57 as Mara Misiurewicz scored her first goal of the season from Ashleigh Rothe.
Alyssa Bird scored in the third quarter for the Panthers with her 11th goal of the season at the 7:59 mark to make it a 5-3 deficit. The Lakers would then score the final seven goals of the game to pull away. Zoe Ziegler led the Lakers with four goals on nine shots on goal. Kendra Swope added two goals and two draw controls. Gracie Bancroft added two goals and one assist for Grand Valley State.
Malpass led Davenport with five total shots including four shots on goal.
Rachel Livak had a great game in goal with nine saves and also led the team with eight ground balls. The Panthers caused 11 turnovers for the game and
Theadora Krueger led the team with four.
Cassidy Sanders led DU with three draw controls. GVSU had a big edge in free-position shots going 6-of-8 compared to 1-of-3 for Davenport.
The Panthers will remain at home on Sunday, Apr. 6 as they play Saginaw Valley State in the Morgan's Message Game starting at noon.
