EAST PEORIA, Ill. | Corwin Clatt Stadium, EastSide Centre - Second-seeded
McKendree University women's soccer (15-1-3) pushed past the third-seeded Panthers of Drury in the GLVC Championship semifinal on Friday afternoon, earning its spot in the title game on Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats battled back for a ninth-straight victory while collecting a spot in their first Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament championship since the spring of 2021 behind the scores by two seniors, midfielder
Katie Spotanski and forward
Anna Stiffler. McKendree will face the fourth-seeded Flyers of Lewis University in the championship game on November 12 at Corwin Clatt Stadium at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois.
The Bearcats and Panthers were locked in a null score game following the first 45 minutes of action with McKendree firing four shots to Drury's two. McKendree went down early in the second half as Drury managed to break through with a quick goal in the 55th minute.
The Panthers held a 1-0 advantage for just a few minutes with McKendree asserting themselves in the attacking half. In the 59th minute of action, McKendree found itself with a free kick opportunity by graduate defender
Morgan Bova, who fired a long ball into the box. The deep pass was found by Spotanski, who fired it in via header to knot the game at 1-1. McKendree and Drury fought through the remainder of regulation with no scoring even as both squads held multiple chances, sending the game to overtime.
In the overtime, McKendree found its opportunity in the first 10-minute period with a counter-attack situation. Senior midfielder
Reagan Mauch corralled a header by Bova and took her space, dropping in a picturesque ball to Stiffler. Stiffler tapped it home, over the keeper's reach, marking the game-winner for the Bearcats. McKendree held out and off for the remaining time to reach the GLVC tournament championship bout for the first time since spring 2021.
SCORING RECAP
59th | #8
Katie Spotanski (8) via #14
Morgan Bova (3)
99th | #21
Anna Stiffler (12) via #11
Reagan Mauch (4)
NOTES
McKendree moved its win streak to nine-straight games behind the 2-1 victory to earn its spot in the championship game on November 12. The Bearcats' last trip to the finals of the GLVC tournament was in the spring 2021 season, where they claimed the title over then-GLVC foe Southern Indiana.
Senior forward
Anna Stiffler fired her 12th goal and eighth game-winner of the year. Stiffler, who set McKendree's DII career scoring mark earlier this season, now totals 42 goals to sit seven shy of the all-time program record (49).
Senior midfielder
Katie Spotanski added her sixth goal in seven games, tying the contest in the 59th minute of action. Spotanski has scored in both GLVC tournament games after firing goals in four of the last five regular-season contests.
UP NEXT | GLVC CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT - Finals
No.2-seed McKendree takes on the No.4-seed Lewis in the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship on Sunday, November 12, at 12:00PM. The Bearcats and Flyers played to a draw in their regular season matchup on September 29 at Leemon Field. McKendree will look to reclaim the GLVC tournament crown with its last tournament title coming in the spring of 2021.
The 2023 GLVC Women's Soccer Championship Tournament will be held November 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 brackets can be found via the GLVC's
Championship Central.
