(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 12) – The No. 10 McKendree University women's soccer team's hope for a second consecutive American Midwest Conference tournament championship fell short on Thursday night in a 3-2 loss to No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist University.
No. 10 McKendree, now 16-2-2 overall, will find out November 15th if they have received an at-large bid into the NAIA National Championship Opening Round which takes place on campus sites on November 21st.
The Spartans struck first in the contest in the 32nd minute on a free kick by Sarah O'Donnell to take a 1-0 lead. The Spartans struck again with three seconds remaining in the first half on a goal by Jenni Schoon on an assist from Taylor Hay to take a 2-0 lead into halftime.
Missouri Baptist took a 3-0 lead in the 51st minute on an unassisted goal by Taylor Hay, but the Bearcats got on the board in the 79th minute on a penalty kick by senior forward Sarah Ryan (Rochester, Ill./Rochester) (Rochester, Ill./Rochester) to make the score 3-1. McKendree struck again in the 81st minute on a goal by junior midfielder Sarah Eckelkamp (Arnold, Mo./Fox) (Arnold, Mo./Fox) on the assist from junior midfielder Theresa Kaiser (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy) to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Eckelkamp's goal would be the Bearcats last in the game and their comeback bid fell short.
Junior Liz Yanko (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) played 90 minutes in goal and had three saves in the loss.
-McK-
