The Lakeland women's soccer team played host to the Lorain County Community College Commodores this afternoon and came away with a 2-2 tie at Laker Field. The Lakers record now stands at 2-2-1. The Commodores got on the board first as they scored a goal at the 4 minute mark connecting on a shot from inside the box. Lakeland tied it up with 30:35 to play in the half as Amijah Simons netted the goal after a free kick from Carli Salatino. The teams would continue to battle the rest of the half with both teams getting scoring opportunites, but neither team able to connect. In the second half, Lorain County would regain the lead as they scored off a crossing pass about 14 minutes into the period. Christina Vanah made the initial save, but the Lorain County player was able to punch in the rebound. Lakeland tied it again when Gina Grandini took a ball down the right sideline and then chipped a ball over the goalie and just inside the far post. Both teams continued to battle for the remaining time with neither team getting any quality scoring chances as the defenses tightened up. Overall, Lakeland finished with a few more scoring opportunities, but had several shots hit the framework and so settled for a tie. Lakeland outshot the Commodores 9-5 and held a slight edge in corners 4-3.
Lakeland's Gina Grandini was named offensive player of the game as she netted a goal on 5 shots in her first game back from injury.
Mallon's Comments: "We really had to shuffle our lineup as we dealt with numerous injuries today. I felt like we continued to battle though - I was pleased with our overall effort and the way the team didn't give up. Hopefully, we will continue to get healthier - as that will be a key to our success. We have some really tough opponents coming up, so we're going to have to be ready. We'll take some time tomorow to heal up a bit and get back at it Thursday."
Next Up: The Lakers will travel to Muskeon Community College this weekend to face off against the Jayhawks. Game time is 1:00pm.
