ALLENDALE, Mich. — With less than one minute remaining in Friday's season opener, the Bellarmine University women's soccer team had a chance to tie No. 6 Grand Valley State, but the Lakers snuffed out that opportunity and turned it into a breakaway goal in capturing a 3-1 victory over the Knights.

As anticipated between two teams who have met in the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Tournament three times since 2009, Bellarmine (0-1) and Grand Valley State (1-0) engaged in a tense affair at GVSU Soccer Field that ultimately was decided on the final sequence.

"We gave ourselves a chance against one of the best teams in the country," Knights Coach Chris Tinius said of the five-time national champions.

As the time ticked under a minute in the second half, Bellarmine hurried to set up a corner kick trailing 2-1. The Knights went all-in on the chance to tie, crowding the box with every player on the field, including sophomore goalkeeper Elyssa Francis.

Senior midfielder Jordan Chlebowy fired a promising kick toward the top of the goal area. Unfortunately for the Knights, the Lakers were able to clear the ball out and the speedy Timia Robinson had a wide-open run all the way to the other end, tapping the ball into the open net with seven seconds left.

"That third goal at the end doesn't matter," Tinius said. "We had a great service on the corner and had brought everyone into the box. We had a chance to make it 2-2. I thought we timed it well for it to be the last chance of the game, but (Robinson) was even faster than I thought she was!"

The score was 1-1 at halftime. Grand Valley State's Corey Sawall scored in the sixth minute, and Bellarmine senior midfielder Madison Stephens delivered the equalizer after sinking a penalty kick in the 20th minute. The score remained tied at the intermission.

"I thought the first 15-20 minutes we were very scattered," Tinius said. "We knew they would have a lot of the ball, and once we settled down and committed more to the shape we wanted, we at least made it difficult. We had moments to expose them on the counter but didn't always recognize it or attack with the vigor we needed to."

Grand Valley State went ahead 2-1 in the 54th minute when Riko Sagara finished a cross from Sawall. The Lakers finished with a 20-6 advantage in shots, but the shots on goal were pretty close, with GVSU having a 9-5 edge there.

Bellarmine will face another stern road challenge as the Knights play at noon (ET) Sunday at Ferris State.

"That's a tough opening game against a tough opponent. We're beat and beat up, so now the focus becomes recovery to try and get through Sunday," Tinius said. "Grand Valley is going to have another tremendous season. We will be better for this in the long run. That's why you don't shy away from people early in the season: You play, you learn, you move on."

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