No.22/#2 Women’s Soccer Shuts Out #7 Lewis, Advancing to the GLVC Semis

LEBANON, Ill. | Leemon Field – No.22 and #2 seed McKendree University women’s soccer heads to the Great Lakes Valley Conference semifinal round after a 1-0 overtime victory over the seventh-seeded Lewis Flyers on Sunday in the quarterfinal matchup. The decisive score was fired by sophomore forward Maddie Mauch in the first overtime while junior goalkeeper Peyton Baker tallied another shutout for the season. With the victory, McKendree heads into the semifinal round on Friday evening with a battle against #3 seed Maryville at Creve Coeur Soccer Park at 7:00PM. 

The Bearcats and Flyers battled just two weeks ago with McKendree grabbing the victory, 1-0, and looked to continue that trend in the opening round of the conference tournament. The first half played out in a back-and-forth battle as the squads fired 12 shots with the Bearcats putting three on-frame and the Flyers four. Wind and cold affected the chances throughout the contest, resulting in a nil-nil score at the intermission stretch. 

Both teams entered the second half looking to make early advances but to no avail, as McKendree settled back and stone-walled the Flyers, not allowing anything through with Baker standing tall. The Bearcats fired two shots in the second half while holding off an aggressive attack from Lewis, which sent nine in the latter 45 minutes of action. The second half came and went with neither team able to find that back of the net. With the 0-0 stalemate, the game headed to overtime and the Bearcats advanced quickly with their attack. Within the first two minutes, the ball found the feet of Mauch, who fired three consecutive shots with the third finding the back of the net.

McKendree captured its fourth-straight trip to the GLVC semifinals while Baker earned a 10th shutout of the season. The 22nd-ranked Bearcats will face off against local foe Maryville in the GLVC Semifinal round at 7:00PM on Friday, November 14, at Creve Coeur Soccer Park.