ALLENDALE, Mich.- The Saginaw Valley State women's soccer team took down Grand Valley State in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals on Friday, 3-0. This was the Cardinals' (12-6-2, 8-4-2 GLIAC) first win over the Lakers (11-4-5, 8-2-4 GLIAC) since 2000.
SVSU jumped on GVSU early. Grace Battershell (Rochester Hills, Mich., Adams HS) passed to Melanie Kolnitys (Midland, Mich., H. H. Dow HS), who made one move to her right before firing a shot from about 15 yards outside the box that went into the top-right corner of the goal to put the Cardinals up 1-0 in the second minute. Ava Wilberding (Grand Rapids, Mich., Forest Hills Central HS) made her first save in the 35th minute to keep SVSU in front. She made another save before the end of the half to keep the Cardinals in front at halftime.
Wilberding made a save in the 52nd minute to open the second half. The game went into a defensive battle with neither team recording a shot between the 54th and 75th minutes. That changed when Abby Ellis (Waterford, Mich., Waterford Mott HS) headed the ball to Emily Kolodin (Grand Blanc, Mich., Grand Blanc HS), who beat the GVSU goalkeeper and tucked the ball into the bottom-right corner, putting the Cardinals ahead 2-0. Ellis picked up another assist along with Kylie Cesarek (Macomb, Mich., Dakota HS) after Isla MacGregor (London, Ontario, Oakridge Secondary School) scored from the left side to put the Cardinals up 3-0 in the 80th minute. Wilberding made another save to hold onto the shutout and give SVSU an upset win in the GLIAC Tournament semifinals.
Kolodin led the team with two shots, both on goal. Wilberding finished the match with four saves. The Lakers held the advantage in shots, 11-8, but the Cardinals put more on goal, 6-4. There were 27 total fouls, 17 on SVSU and 10 on GVSU. Both teams were shown two yellow cards.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley State has punched their ticket to the GLIAC Tournament Championship where they will face Ferris State on Sunday at 1:00 PM in Allendale.
