LIBERTY, Mo. - No.13 McKendree University women's soccer (5-1-0, 1-1-0 GLVC) bounced-back on Sunday afternoon with a commanding 4-0 shutout victory over the Cardinals of WIlliam Jewell in Liberty, Missouri. The Bearcats entered Sunday following a loss at Rockhurst on Friday night but did not allow the prior result to hamper the weekend finale. McKendree collected its first Great Lakes Valley Conference win of the campaign in the shutout and will play its first home league game next Sunday against UMSL at Leemon Field.
McKendree pushed early and often into the Cardinals defense, scoring three times in the first half while totaling 15 shots. The Bearcats got the first score through in the 17th minute as junior forward
Lena Higgins gathered a cross from senior forward
Anna Stiffler, firing it into the net. Stiffler received the assist on the play. Late in the first 45 minutes of action, the visiting Bearcats fought hard and found two insurance scores during the final five minutes of the half. In the 43rd, senior forward
Destiny Johnson found the back of the net for her first goal of the campaign; the dish-out came from freshman midfielder
Maggie Gleckler via free kick. In the final minute of the first period saw freshman forward
Kennedy Newman score her first collegiate goal as junior forward
Gillian Nicholson and freshman forward
Aubrey Andrews got the helper on the score.
McKendree held a 3-0 lead going into intermission, allowing just one shot.
The second half featured no shots fired by William Jewell while McKendree put up another five, bringing the team total to 20 for the game. The Bearcats added a fourth score of the contest in the 49th minute as Johnson collected the ball off a free kick by senior midfielder
Katie Spotanski, scoring the final goal of the game. Spotanski got the assist on Johnson's second score.
Two keepers saw time for the 13th-ranked Bearcats with senior
Abby Tucker taking duties in the first half while freshman
Peyton Baker took reigns in the second half.
SCORING RECAP
17th | #10
Lena Higgins via #21
Anna Stiffler
43rd | #18
Destiny Johnson via #39
Maggie Gleckler
45th | #25
Kennedy Newman via #30
Aubrey Andrews, #12
Gillian Nicholson
49th | #18
Destiny Johnson via #8
Katie Spotanski
NOTES
No.13 McKendree got back on track, getting its first GLVC win of the fall via 4-0 drubbing of the Cardinals. McKendree hosts UMSL in its next contest on Sunday, September 24 at Leemon Field.
Three Bearcats scored in the win as senior
Destiny Johnson (2), junior forward
Lena Higgins, and freshman forward
Kennedy Newman all tallied goals. The scores by Johnson were her first of the season while it was Newman's first collegiate goal.
McKendree out-shot the Cardinals 20 to one with 10 of the shots being on-frame. The Bearcats totaled nine corners while holding WJC to a single corner in the contest.
With the scores by Johnson and Newman, the Bearcats own eight different goal-scorers while 11 players have tallied at least one point this fall. Stiffler leads the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists and
Reagan Mauch ranks second with five points on two goals and an assist.
The shutout marks the third of the season for McKendree. The Bearcats did not concede against Concordia-St. Paul, Wayne State, and William Jewell so far in the campaign.
UP NEXT
McKendree is set to host its first GLVC contest of 2023 with Missouri-St. Louis coming to Leemon Field next Sunday, September 24 with a 12 PM kick-off.
