LEBANON, Ill. - 13th-ranked McKendree University women's soccer (12-0-3, 8-0-2 GLVC) seeks an undefeated regular season and a fifth-straight Great Lakes Valley Conference regular season title this weekend with its fate in its own hands. The Bearcats have won seven of its last eight after winning and drawing in its opening conference weekend. McKendree also looks to move up in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional rankings and National Poll with another strong weekend after being named one of nine teams in the initial, alphabetical 'rankings' for the midwest region. McKendree hosts Maryville at 5 PM on Friday, October 21, at Leemon Field before heading across to UMSL on Sunday, October 23, for a 12 PM kick.
THIS SEASON
The No.13 Bearcats remain as the sole overall unbeaten team in the Midwest region while they are one of two unbeaten GLVC teams left. McKendree won its last two games at home on October 14 and 16, beating Missouri S&T and Drury. The offense has been led by junior forward
Anna Stiffler, who leads the entire GLVC and is nationally ranked in multiple categories. Stiffler owns 11 goals and one assist this fall, scoring in eight of ten league contests so far. The St. Dominic-product has put over half of her attempts on-frame with six game winners on the 2022 campaign. She headlines a potent offense which features nine goal-scorers, which includes five other multi-goal scorers this fall. That offense has massively out-paced opposing teams with 28 goals (1.87 per game) to just six allowed. Junior forward
Destiny Johnson and senior midfielder
Elizabeth Goldstein follow Stiffler with three goals each while Johnson owns three dish-outs and Goldstein has two assists.
The net for the Bearcats has been held by senior goalkeeper
Abby Tucker in near full-time with just six goals allowed, a save percentage of 0.833, 30 saves and a goals allowed average of 0.41.
PREVIEW vs Maryville (8-2-5, 6-0-5 GLVC)
All-Time Series: 10-3-1, McK | Streak: W4
Maryville began the season with a tough non-conferene draw, facing then-No.17 Ferris State and then-No.1 Grand Valley State. The Saints are the only team besides the Bearcats to remain unbeaten in the GLVC, winning four of the last six contests. Maryville's offense has been led by Ashlyne Hunt and Lexi Gentry with 14 and 13 points. Hunt has fired seven goals with a pair of game-winners while Gentry owns five goals and three assists with three game-winners. The Saints have out-scored their opponents 26-7 on the year as the net has been guarded by katie Nash in near full-time on the season. Nash owns 41 saves with a 0.854 save percentage and a goals allowed average of just 0.47 with 10 shutouts.
McKendree won the latest outing, 1-0, at Leemon Field last fall.
PREVIEW @ UMSL (5-6-3, 3-4-3 GLVC)
All-Time Series: 6-4-2, McK | Streak: T1
Missouri-St. Louis begins the weekend against Indianapolis at home prior to the Sunday matchup with the Bearcats and enter the weekend with back-to-back draws. The Tritons have narrowly outpaced opponents with a 20-19 goal total. Jayln Richardson leads the way for UMSL with six goals and 12 points while Cammie Robinson ranks second with four and eight. Two keepers have held time in the net for UMSL with Kate Mary Neal and Paige Schwartz nearly splitting time. Combined the pair has 36 saves with a 0.655 save percentage and three shutouts.
The last time these two programs met was in the 2021 GLVC Quarterfinal at Leemon, which ended in a 1-1 tie with UMSL moving on following kicks from the line.
RANKINGS
Anna Stiffler
| Category |
|
NCAA |
GLVC |
| Goals |
11 |
t-17th |
1st |
| Goals Per Game |
0.73 |
t-26th |
1st |
| Points |
23 |
t-33rd |
1st |
| Points Per Game |
1.53 |
t-43rd |
1st |
| Game-Winners |
6 |
t-2nd |
1st |
| Category |
|
NCAA |
GLVC |
| Shutouts |
8 |
t-10th |
- |
| Goals Against Avg. |
0.41 |
13th |
1st |
| Save Pct. |
0.833 |
t-48th |
7th |
