(LEBANON, Ill. – Feb. 3) – The McKendree University women's soccer team travels to Saint Louis, Mo. for an exhibition match against Saint Louis University on Thursday at 3 p.m.
The Bearcats are coming off a 16-4-3 season. Despite losing to the University of Southern Indiana in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship game, the Bearcats earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament and won its first tournament game since 2016 with a 1-0 win over Ashland University. They would lose to Grand Valley State in the next round.
McKendree will be returning several key athletes from last season, including
Emma Knoebel (Maryville, IL/Collinsville) and
Alynnah O'Leary (Collinsville, IL/Collinsville) on offense, as well as
Danielle Knutson (Maryville, IL/Collinsville),
Morgan Cervera (Saint Peters, MO/Francis Howell Central) and
Morgan Bova (Troy, MO/Troy Buchanan) on defense.
Both Knoebel and O'Leary lead returners in goals and assists with three each while Knutson, Cevera and Bova played key roles on defense.
On the flip side, the Bearcats lost leading goal scorers
Sydnee Carroll (Millstadt, IL/Belleville West High School) and
Madyson Mossman (St. Louis, MO/Ursuline Academy), and goalie
Zoe Brochu (Ajax, Ontario, Canada/Pickering High School), who signed with Rochester United FC last summer.
Brochu had been the starting goaltender for the Bearcats over the last four years.
She racked up several awards throughout her time at McKendree, including winning GLVC Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2019, multiple GLVC Defensive Player of the Year awards, and was a two-time United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-American.
The Billiken's are coming off a strong 2019 campaign. They went 17-4-2, won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, but lost to Notre Dame 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
"(Saint Louis) isn't going to play as quick as (some of the best teams in the GLVC), rather, they're going to play 10 times quicker. So, we're going to have to play quicker because of that" McKendree University head coach
Tim Strange said.
Hannah Friedrich is a key athlete returning for Saint Louis. The junior lead the team in goals with 11 and was tied for the team lead in assists with six last season.
Thursday matchup against Saint Louis will provide great competition for the Bearcats to see where they're at as a team, and what improvements they need to make heading into GLVC later in the month.
"We want our players to gain even more experience by playing a high-level team," Strange said. "But (our returners) have seen a lot of talent. They've seen the Grand Valley State's and how we play against them. We need to take our team and get better for the GLVC. So that's the key for me."
"I think it's a win-win for us, I don't care about the score. I say that but I care that we are progressing and are getting better before the regular season," Strange said.
Streaming Link: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=8d742296-509e-441e-9f0b-e3d388d4b1cc
