(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 24) – The McKendree men's soccer team fell to the Fighting Scots of Ohio Valley 2-0 earlier this Sunday afternoon in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, thus concluding their 2019 Championship run. The Bearcats finish the season with a single-season program-high 15 wins.
 
Though Ohio Valley netting their eventual game-winner in just the 7^th minute of play, the match was virtually even on the state sheet with both teams shooting a total of nine shots each. Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Pachu Cortazar (Asuncion, Paraguay/Santa Teresa de Jesus) made four saves despite the loss. "We're obviously disappointed with today's loss," said men's soccer head coach Scott Gyllenborg, "though a key takeaway from today is that we have room to match our composure with the talent we have proven to have on our roster."
 
This Sunday marks the end of a historic 2019 campaign for the Bearcats, as they set a program record for All-Great Lakes Valley Conference (GVLC) honorees with eight, while also earning major conference awards with freshman Karson Huels (Waterloo, Ill.) earning GLVC Freshman of the Year Honors while head coach Gyllenborg took home the GLVC Coach of the Year nod. To accompany these individual honors, McKendree also took home the first GLVC Regular Season Championship for the first time in program history.
 
"The goal we set every preseason is to win a national championship, and coming up short of that goal is always disappointing. There's only one team in the country that gets to determine the end of that season, and that's the team that hoists the NCAA Championship Trophy in mid-December. Though we were unable to reach that point this season, we still earned the right to hoist the GLVC Regular Season Title trophy and no one can ever take that from us," coach Gyllenborg had to say on the season in its entirety.