Two weeks into the 2021 DII women’s soccer season and it looks eerily similar to how the last full season ended. The 2019 national semifinalists — Grand Valley State, Western Washington, Flagler and Saint Rose — are all unbeaten and in the top 10 in the country.
2021 STORYLINES: What we’re watching early in the DII women’s soccer season
Let’s breakdown some of these teams and what we’ve seen two weeks into the season.
Grand Valley State hasn’t skipped a beat
For some reason, the defending national champions entered the season at No. 9 in the preseason rankings. This was coming after a 6-1-1 record in the spring and winning yet another GLIAC championship. Perhaps it was because the Jim Conlon head coaching era began on opening day, but whatever the case is, the Lakers appear to have taken it personally.
Heading into the third weekend of play, Grand Valley State is 4-0. The Lakers have outscored their opponents 14-2 and not only have a pair of top-25 wins already — but both victories came in shutout style. Kennedy Bearden and Greta DeLoach lead the way with eight points apiece, while starting keeper Callie Rich has allowed one goal in 242 minutes of play. Grand Valley State moved up to No. 2 in the latest poll and is doing just fine.
