JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - McKendree University women's soccer (9-1-0, 5-1-0), the 23rd-ranked squad in the nation, bombarded the Lincoln Blue Tigers on Friday evening, 13-1, with two hat tricks and a third multi-goal scorer in the contest. The hat tricks were fired by senior forward Lena Higgins and senior forward Anna Stiffler with Stiffler's trio of goals making her the program's career goal leader (50), surpassing Sulyn Keomanivane (2008-2011, 49 goals). The Bearcats remain on the road for a battle at Missouri S&T on Sunday, October 6 at 12:00PM in Rolla before returning to Leemon Field next weekend. 

After McKendree went down 1-0 in the first five minutes of the contest due to a wind-carried ball sailing into the net, the Bearcats put their heads down and ran through the Blue Tigers. In the fifth minute, senior forward Anna Stiffler received a through ball, which she collected and passed by the Lincoln keeper, tying the game, 1-0. Just over two minutes later, senior forward Lena Higgins fired her first goal of the game, which proved to be the eventual game-winner. Playing back-and-forth, Stiffler and Higgins combined for the first five McKendree scores over the opening 27 minutes of action. In the 30th minute, sophomore forward Aubrey Andrews got in on the action with her second goal of the campaign, assisted on by Higgins. To wrap up the first-half scoring, redshirt freshman Ella Post fired her first collegiate goal  to make it a 7-1 contest with junior forward Karin Tebelius dishing out the assist. 

The second half saw the Bearcats keep their feet to the floor, scoring six more goals with Higgins opening the scoring in the 61st minute as Stiffler assisting. Just mere seconds after the Higgins goal, sophomore forward Kenneday Newman got her first goal of the 2024 campaign to make the lead eight goals at 9-1 over Lincoln. Scoring subsided momentarily but picked back up in the 79th minute behind Post getting her second goal off a Tebelius assist. Wrapping up the game, Tebelius fired her own goal with Newman assisting in the 80th while freshman forward Maddie Mauch scored her fifth of the fall in the 86th with Tebelius assisting again, and senior forward Gillian Nicholson fired an unassisted score in the 87th, making the lead an even baker's dozen at 13-1. 

Sophomore goalkeeper Peyton Baker grabbed six saves in the win. 

Scoring
5th | #21 Anna Stiffler (6), unassisted
7th | #10 Lena Higgins (5), unassisted
9th | # 21 Anna Stiffler (7) via #10 Lena Higgins (3)
18th | #10 Lena Higgins (6), unassisted
27th | #21 Anna Stiffler (8), unassisted
30th | #14 Aubrey Andrews (2) via #10 Lena Higgins (4)
40th | #29 Ella Post (1) via #17 Karin Tebelius (2)
61st | #10 Lena Higgins (7) via #21 Anna Stiffler (6)
61st | #25 Kennedy Newman (1), unassisted
79th | #29 Ella Post (2) via #17 Karin Tebelius (3)
80th | #17 Karin Tebelius (2) via #25 Kennedy Newman (1)
86th | #15 Maddie Mauch (5) via #17 Karin Tebelius (4)
87th | #12 Gillian Nicholson (2), unassisted

NOTES
McKendree tied its program record for single game goals with 13, evening a mark set back in 2009 during a dominant win over Harris-Stowe. 

The Bearcats had eight goal scorers with three multi-goal outings with Stiffler (3), Higgins, (3), Post (2), Nicholson (1), Andrews (1), M. Mauch (1), Tebelius (1), and Newman (1). 

Senior forward Anna Stiffler collected her first career hat trick and her 10th career multi-goal game while also breaking the program's career goal record (NAIA & NCAA DII) with 50, which was previously held by Sulyn Keomanivane (2008-2011) with 49 goals. Stiffler now pursues the program's career point mark, also held by Keomanivane at 122, as she sits with 119 following Friday's win. 

Senior forward Lena Higgins tallied her first collegiate hat trick while also marking her first career multi-goal game. 

Redshirt freshman Ella Post fired her first collegiate goals in the outing, scoring in the 40th and 79th minutes. 

Of the 13 goals, eight were assisted on with Tebelius (3), Higgins (2), Stiffler (1), Andrews (1), and Newman (1), each nabbing an assist. 

UP NEXT
Oct. 6 | 12:00PM @ Missouri S&T | Rolla, Mo. | Watch / Live Stats

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