Amanda Buckler (Jr.-Sheridan, Wyo.) scored two goals in the opening half to spring the Lakeland University women's soccer team to a big lead before it held on for a 3-2 victory over the Alverno College Inferno Sunday afternoon in both teams' season opener.

The Muskies opened the delayed 2020-21 season with their first-ever game in spring and prevailed on a breezy day that was a tale of two halves. All five goals were scored in the first half before both teams went scoreless in the second half of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match.
The Muskies scored three quick goals to take a commanding 3-0 lead halfway through the first half. Buckler scored twice sandwiched around a goal by freshman forward Marlen Reyes Robelo (Milwaukee, Wis.), with all three goals scored in a span of 11 minutes, 9 seconds.

Buckler scored on a free kick from 30 yards out in the 17th minute to start the scoring just under 17 minutes into the game, sailing the ball over Alverno goalkeeper Kenzie Bermudez and into the top left corner of the net. Less than five minutes later, Robelo scored on a breakaway goal at 20:35 to notch her first collegiate goal and give the Muskies a two-goal cushion.

Buckler then scored what proved to be the winning goal on a penalty kick at the 27:51 mark. The converted kick was important because Lakeland would not score again, while Alverno would tally twice late in the first half with a pair of goals by Verania Ortiz, one on a penalty kick and the other with just seven seconds left in the half. The guests had a golden opportunity for a third goal in the opening 45 minutes, but Muskies goalkeeper Haley Rich (So.-West Chicago, Ill.) stopped another penalty kick by Ortiz in the 37th minute.

A physical second half was played on mostly even terms and resulted in four yellow cards but no goals for the two teams. Erin Tomlinson (Jr.-Madison, Wis.) covered the second half in goal and made three saves, the last coming in the 79th minute after a shot by Sofia McLaughlin.

Rich played the first 45 minutes and made six saves to earn the win before Tomlinson closed the second half to secure a win for the Muskies in their first game in 511 days. Alverno's Bermudez stopped two shots in the full 90 minutes.

The Muskies are home again this Wednesday when they host Wisconsin Lutheran College at 7 p.m.