ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – In a span of 15 minutes, Daisy Garcia turned a Roosevelt deficit into a Lakers rout in a historic 5-1 win over Upper Iowa on Sunday afternoon at Morris Field.

Although there are no style points awarded for a program's first Division II win, the Lakers (1-1-0) delighted the Senior Day crowd with brilliant offense for 90 minutes to secure Roosevelt's first win as an NCAA Division II program. The Lakers held a 28-3 edge in shot attempts and put 15 shots officially on target while several more smacked off the posts. It was the most goals Roosevelt has scored at home since the season finale in 2022 when the Lakers scored 11 times against Indiana South Bend. 

Garcia, the junior transfer from Judson, was in the middle of all the action with a hat trick that spanned just 14 minutes and 29 seconds. Less than two minutes after the Peacocks took the lead, Garcia answered with a right-footed shot into the lower-left corner off a pass from Mayte Gongora to equalize the game. Just 10 minutes later, Gongora dropped a pass off to Garcia, who had a go and picked out the top-left corner from 35 yards away.

The Lakers were far from done as less than four minutes later, Gongora was able to split three Peacocks and loft a soft cross onto the head of Cami Butler, who directed the ball into the open net. Before the celebrations of Roosevelt's third goal died down, Lesly Guerra laid off the ball to Garcia for a 30-yard strike into the upper-right corner to make it four unanswered goals after Upper Iowa opened the scoring.

The second half did not hold as much excitement, although the Lakers still had plenty of moments that got the fans out of their seats. Still, it took nearly 40 minutes for the Lakers to add their fifth goal, which came courtesy of Kenna Wisniewski heading home Rosa Alameda's cross into the middle. It was the first career points for both players in a Roosevelt uniform. 

Prior to Sunday's match, the Lakers honored their eight seniors for Senior Day and all five healthy seniors made appearances against the Peacocks. Gongora, Daisy Hernandez-Loya and Cheech Seuberling all started for Roosevelt while Lainey Canan and Emilyn Ramirez played more than 25 minutes off the bench. Roxy Herrera, Aliah Mendez and Becca Simpkins were also honored but missed the action due to injuries.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH: Gongora made her Senior Day a memorable one by setting the school record for assists in a game with three. The senior made her 50^th career appearance for the Lakers on Sunday, and had zero career assists before the match with the Peacocks.

SCORING AT WILL: Roosevelt's offense is well beyond outpacing last year's marks through just two games. The Lakers scored eight goals during the 2024 season and have already tallied seven during the opening weekend. Eight players have already registered points with six players averaging a point per game.

UP NEXT: The Lakers take to the road Saturday at Thomas More for a meeting with the Saints. The two schools met at Morris Field in 2022 with Thomas More squeezing out a 2-1 win while both schools were in the NAIA.