LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On a snowy Friday evening in the opening round of the Division II NCAA Tournament, the Bellarmine University women's soccer team turned the field at Grand Valley State in Allendale, Michigan, into its own winter wonderland.

The sixth-seeded Knights played with fire despite the bitter temperature and prevailed 2-1 over third-seeded Michigan Tech. BU Coach Chris Tinius said the Knights (14-3-3) embraced the elements before pointing out a cold truth about the Midwest Region semifinals and second-seeded and 11th-ranked Grand Valley State (18-2-1) that had nothing to do with frigid temperatures.

"The weather is far from the main obstacle tomorrow," noted Tinius, whose squad will meet the Lakers on their turf at 1 p.m. (ET) on Sunday.  

Indeed, Grand Valley State could easily be considered the premier women's soccer program in Division II. Truth be told, it would seem nearly impossible to argue otherwise. Not only are the Lakers the defending national champions, they've won three of the last five NCAA Tournament titles and finished as the national runner-up another time. They also fell in the title game in 2006. The team's 2009 championship run featured a 1-0 win over Bellarmine, the only time the two have met in the postseason.

"Grand Valley is not just a great team but a great program whose success speaks for itself," Tinius said. "They are a very deep team and will be relentless in how they play. The best comparison that we've faced to this point is probably Parkside."

Third-ranked, top-seeded and unbeaten Wisconsin-Parkside (17-0-3) captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. However, behind a tying goal by sophomore midfielder Lauren Holder inside the last 10 minutes of regulation and a gritty effort on defense, the visiting Knights played to a 1-1 deadlock with the Rangers on Oct. 3. Bellarmine stayed in contention for a share of a GLVC regular season championship with Wisconsin-Parkside through the final day of results.

Grand Valley State won its eighth straight Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 2-1 win over Ohio Dominican, whom the Lakers shared the GLIAC regular season title with. If Bellarmine just keeps the game competitive, it would be a first for a GLVC squad against Grand Valley State this season: The Lakers defeated Quincy 4-0, Truman State 3-0 and Indianapolis 6-0.

Grand Valley State averages over three goals per game and boasts the third-highest scoring offense in the country. Eight different players have recorded 10 points or more, with freshman forward Gabriella Mencotti (34 points, 13 goals, eight assists), sophomore midfielder Marti Corby (33 points, 11 goals, 11 assists) and senior forward Jenny Shaba (32 points, eight goals, 16 assists) comprising three of the GLIAC's top four in that category. Shaba is tied for second in the nation in assists, while junior forward Katie Bounds is the Lakers' third double-digit goal scorer with 10.

Between the GLVC Tournament and the Midwest Region quarterfinals, Bellarmine had a nearly two-week layoff from game action. The Knights continued to practice while being in limbo — they had a meaty resume but were on the tournament bubble — and then had very little time to research Michigan Tech.

"We really focused on improving our own team, which has been good," senior midfielder Emily Hollander said prior to the opening-round victory over Michigan Tech in which she delivered the game-winning goal. "I think it's been a positive experience to work on ourselves and the little things we needed to fix."

Indeed, after a disappointing tie with Southern Indiana in the regular season finale was followed by an upset loss to Missouri S&T in the GLVC Tournament quarterfinals, in hindsight some time to clear their heads and concentrate specifically on themselves without concerning themselves with an opponent seems exactly like what the Knights needed.

"I was very proud of the way the girls approached the preparation for last night," Tinius said. "There was always the possibility of not being 'game ready' with 12 days between matches, but we thought the positives outweighed the negatives. Including preseason, that was the longest stretch all year that we've had to get healthy and focus on ourselves, making ourselves a better team. We approached it with a combination of renewed excitement and business-like attitude. The last three days of training were the best we'd had in a month, so we thought regardless of the way the game was going to turn out we were prepared to play well."

Behind two weeks of thorough training and a sharply played victory over Michigan Tech, the Knights are ready to test themselves against the defending national champion.

"I think our kids are confident," Tinius said. "Really once you start with conference tournament play, every opponent at this time of year is here for a reason. We have to worry about taking care of us. We got away from that a little the last week and a half of the regular season, but when we take care of trying to maximize what we can do, we give ourselves a chance to compete with anyone on a given day. That's all you can ask for at this time of year regardless of the opponent — play hard, take care of details and give yourself a chance. We think when we do that, we can find ways to finish games."

Knights in the NCAA Tournament
Opponent: No. 11 Grand Valley State (18-2-1)
Day: Sunday
First kick: 1 p.m. (ET)
Site: Grand Valley State
Region: Midwest
Round: Second round/Regional semifinals
Live stats: Here
Video streaming: Here
NCAA Tournament bracket: Here