The Lakland women's soccer team can not catch a break. As they get a couple players back from injury, they have a couple more go down with injury, and the Lakers again played with a short bench on a hot sticky day against the Grand Rapids Raiders at Laker Field. The Lakers hurt themselves early defensively as a defender misplayed a ball in the box and it set up the Raiders for an open shot and goal 5 minutes into the contest. Less than a minute later, the Raiders would score on a free kick as the Lakers had some confusion as they set up defensively. The two teams would battle over the next 20 minutes with the Raiders possessing much of the ball while the Lakers kept them at bay with solid defense and good communication. The Lakers would make a miscue on a goal kick with just under 16 minutes to play and the Raiders took advantage again before going into the break with a 4-0 lead.

In the second half, the Lakers started to show more offensive life as they were able to start to put some pressure on the Raiders defense. The closest Lakeland came to scoring was when Gabrielle Carley rang one off the crossbar about 10 minutes into the half. Unfortunately, that shot didn't fall and the Raiders took advantage of a short Lakeland bench to extend their lead and earn an 8-0 win.

Players of the Game: Brooke Callahan - played extremely strong defense while dealing with an injury - great effort

Aryanna Milton-Pace - played extremely well on multiple aspects of the game today

Lillyan Agostine - came in relief in net and made an outstanding diving save late in the second half

Lily Schiemann - worked tirelessly throughout while playing excellent defense and did a good job controlling the middle

Josalyn Abrams - played an extrenely strong second half

Mallon Mentions: "Despite the score, I am really pleased with the effort that the team put in today. eing down in tough conditions is not an easy task. They really gave it their all and I'm very proud of them. In addition to the players mentioned above, Georgia Edwards worked extremely hard on offense and Carmen Alvarez stepped in and helped us in multiple ways. Stephanie Miller, Theresa Santilli, Carlin McNulty, Zaria Friedrichsen - they all (the team) just gave a great effort that they can take pride in." 

Next Up: The Lakers are scheduled to play Kellogg CC next Saturday (9/28) at Laker Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm.