LEBANON, Ill. | Leemon Field - McKendree University men's soccer amassed its eighth-straight shutout with a 2-0 victory over Drury on Sunday afternoon, improving to 10-1-6 overall and 8-1-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats were led to the victory with stifling defense and a pair of scores by freshman defender
Fred Nielsen. McKendree earned the four-seed in the upcoming GLVC tournament with the win and is set to host Maryville at Leemon Field on November 5.
McKendree and Drury fought hard in the first half with the Panthers leading in shots, firing five to the Bearcats' three. The score was null following the first 45 minutes of action.
In the second half, McKendree broke through in the 53rd minute as Nielsen fired his second goal of the year off dish-outs by senior defender
Matteo Schubert and junior midfielder
Philipp Schmidt. McKendree led 1-0 before adding its insurance goal in the 63rd minute, which was fired by Nielsen, his third of the season. On the second score, graduate defender
Michael Hodgson and junior forward
Jack Hynes collected assists.
The Bearcats defense held throughout the remainder of the game with freshman goalkeeper
Christian Herluf getting the win and shutout, his 10th victory and 11th shutout. Herluf now is the single-season record-holder for shutouts in McKendree history.
SCORING RECAP
53rd | #12
Fred Nielsen (2) via #26
Philipp Schmidt (2), #44
Matteo Schubert (6)
63rd | #12
Fred Nielsen (3) via #4
Michael Hodgson (1), #9
Jack Hynes (1)
GLVC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT
The Bearcats finished tied for third in the GLVC this season with 28 points, earning the four-seed in the championship tournament following tiebreakers with UIndy. McKendree is set to host its quarterfinal matchup against Maryville on November 5 at Leemon Field. The sole matchup this fall between the Bearcats and Saints ended in a 0-0 tie while the last tournament meeting came in 2021 and led to a draw with Maryville winning via PKs, 10-9.
The 2023 GLVC Men's Soccer Championship Tournament will be held Nov. 10 and 12 at Corwin Clatt Stadium in East Peoria, Ill., after the quarterfinals on Nov. 5 are hosted by the top-four seeds. This is the first year the event will be hosted at this venue and a return to a neutral site for both the men's and women's tournaments since the spring of 2021.
Tournament information and bracket can be found via the GLVC's
Championship Central.
NOTES
McKendree men's soccer made the GLVC tournament again after failing to qualify in 2022. The Bearcats will look to make a run after their last tournament appearance saw a quarterfinal exit to Maryville via PKs in 2021.
The Bearcats tallied an eighth-straight shutout with the Sunday result while allowing just a singular goal in the month of October. The lone goal allowed came against UIndy on October 1 in a 1-1 draw at Leemon Field.
Freshman goalkeeper
Christian Herluf earned his 11th shutout of the season, marking a new single-season program record for the Bearcats. Herluf is a four-time GLVC Defensive Player of the Week honoree already this season.
Freshman defender
Fred Nielsen collected five points on the weekend with two goals against the Panthers and an assist versus SBU. The defender marked two career firsts with his assist in the game versus SBU on Friday and his game-winner over Drury on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Fourth-seeded McKendree will play host to No.5-seed Maryville on Sunday, November 5 at Leemon Field.
