Lady Jackets Soccer Rocked by Grand Valley State

by Tim Smith

The Cedarville Lady Jackets knew they were facing a long and difficult battle against No. 2 Grand Valley State on Saturday afternoon. Grand Valley State won the match 5-0 in a hard-fought match.

Both defenses started strong, and the match was scoreless entering the 20th minute. But Grand Valley struck first in that time, taking the lead 1-0. The remaining 25 minutes of the half would stay scoreless, however, as both squads battled for possession.

The Lakers, though, would continue their attack well into the second half, scoring four more goals.

Coach Meade saw multiple positives in the Lady Jackets perseverance and fight.

“A couple of players that haven’t necessarily played a lot this year, Grace Cain and Alexis Hickey, I thought both played really well today.”

Cain and Hickey were not the only notable performers from Saturday’s match. Goalie Allison Garlock  notched eight saves on Grand Valley’s 13 shots on goal.

“We could have held them 1-0 from the beginning, but we just kind of let them through in the second half,” Garlock said. “I hope we take this loss and transition it into motivation for Saturday.”

The Lady Jackets will take on Ohio Valley for a Homecoming weekend match-up, which may prove to be another tough game for the women.

“They are very strong in possession, so I assume they will have a lot of the possession,” said Coach Meade, “They have scored a bunch of goals here recently, so we are going to have to be at our best defensively.”

Garlock said the key to winning on Saturday will be to remain mentally locked in.

“Go in focused, motivated and playing our best. That’s how we get our best results,” Garlock said.