INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - McKendree University women's soccer is national tournament bound after receiving an at-large bid in the Midwest Region. The Bearcats will take on UIndy in the first round as they earned the number four seed and will travel to Allendale, Michigan, where the midwest region's top seed, Grand Valley State, is hosting part of the regional.

McKendree ended the regular season with its fourth-straight regular season title in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, beating Missouri-St. Louis to clinch the regular-season title, 3-1, on Halloween. The Bearcats exited the GLVC Tournament after a tie with the Tritons, which ended with UMSL advancing on PKs. The Bearcats boasted a 12-2-4 overall record, going 10-2-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. 

In the NCAA Midwest Regional, the No. 4 seed McKendree will open with a matchup against GLVC-foe and No. 5 seed University of Indianapolis. The last time these two matched up was at Leemon Field in Lebanon, Illinois on September 19, which the Greyhounds took with a 3-2 advantage. Following the dropped match to UIndy, the Bearcats went on a six-match winning streak and capped off the regular season going 9-1-1 to win the GLVC regular season title. Following the regular season, three Bearcats earned All-GLVC First Team with sophomore forward/midfielder Anna Stiffler, junior defender Morgan Bova, and senior midfielder Emma Knoebel all receiving the honor. 

In the GLVC, Stiffler was an offensive force with fourth-place ranking in points (21), goals (8), and assists (5), while ranking fifth in points per game (1.17). The sophomore also recorded 23 shots on frame and three game-winning goals. Also ranked statistically in the GLVC was freshman defender Kathleen Kenny who dished out six assists (0.35 per game) in her first season as a Bearcat, ranking second in both total and per-game assists. 11 players scored for McKendree in the fall with six firing two-plus goals: Stiffler - 8, midfielder Katie Spotanski - 5, Knoebel - 4, midfielder Reagan Mauch - 4, midfielder Riley Ross - 3, and midfielder/forward Destiny Johnson. 15 Bearcats collected at least one point in the championship regular season as well. 

As a team, McKendree showed a dominant attack compared to opposing forces with 1.72 goals per match compared to 0.83 for opponents. The outscoring of opponents (31-15) is also thanks to a stone-wall defense, only allowing 7.3 shots per game and less than 50-percent of opposing shots to be on-goal. 

The last time out in the NCAA Tournament (2019), the Bearcats beat Ashland in the first round, 1-0, but dropped the second round matchup to eventual and current defending champion, Grand Valley State, 0-4. McKendree has made five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances with its bid this fall (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021) with no national tournament occurring in the spring 2021 season for NCAA Division II. 

Versus UIndy:
The Bearcats will look to even the 2021 fall series between the two programs after UIndy won the sole matchup against the Beracats in mid-September. The all-time series sits at 6-1-4, in favor of McKendree, with the last game being the Greyhounds first win. 

Indianapolis enters the regional tournament at 10-3-3, dropping ts first round match in teh GLVC tournament to Southern Indiana. UIndy also owns an 8-2-3 conference record, going unbeaten over the last four matches of the regular season (2-0-2), including a win over then-league leader and NCAA Midwest Region number-seven seed, Drury (1-0, OT).


NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL SCHEDULE (Allendale, Michigan - Hosted by Grand Valley State):
First Round
Game 1: Thursday, November 18 | 10 A.M. EST / 9 A.M. CT | No. 4 McKendree vs. No. 5 Indianapolis
Game 2: Thursday, November 18 | 1 P.M. EST / 12 P.M. CT | No. 1 Grand Valley State vs. No. 8 Cedarville

Second Round
Game 1: Saturday, November 20 | 10 A.M. EST / 9 A.M. CT | Winner of No. 4/5 vs. Winner of No. 1/8


UP NEXT: 
Bearcats Women's Soccer takes on GLVC-foe in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional in Allendale, Michigan on Thursday, November 18, at 10 A.M. Eastern Time (9 A.M. Central Time).

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