The University of Illinois Springfield men's soccer team will begin their playoff journey against the Drury Panthers on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Kiwanis Stadium. The Prairie Stars were crowned GLVC regular season champions for the first time in school history on Friday night. Adrian Adames leads the Stars with 6 goals while Joe Conway is close behind with 5. Max Tweddle leads the team with 9 assists on the year, and is also the conference leader. 

UIS (11-1-5, 10-0-3) 

Friday night against Lewis was a close match between the first and second placed teams in the conference. In a match that featured very few chances, the Stars took the lead in the 10th minute as Drew Keller headed in a Max Tweddle corner. UIS had a chance to add to their lead in the 19th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick, but Joe Conway saw his shot saved. Both teams registered 6 shots during the match, as UIS held a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Sunday afternoon's match against #14 Indianapolis had huge implications on regional and national rankings. UIS took the lead in the 72nd minute as Adrian Adames steered home a cross from Federico D'Andrea for his sixth goal of the year. UIS would hold the lead until the 81st minute, but a headed goal from a corner would even the score at 1-1. This goal for the Greyhounds was the first goal that UIS has conceded in conference play, ending a shutout streak of twelve matches. UIndy held a slight advantage, 11-10, in shots as both teams registered 3 on target. 

Drury (4-8-5, 4-6-3)

Drury finished 8th in the GLVC after dropping their final two matches of the regular season.

Friday night saw the Panthers line up against the Tritons of UMSL. Within the first five minutes of the match, the Tritons were leading 2-0 after Gabe Stanislawski scored in the 4th and 5th minutes. Stanislawski completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute as the game finished 3-0 in favor of UMSL. Drury outshout UMSL 14-5, but the Tritons had a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. 

Sunday afternoon the Panthers traveled to McKendree to play the Bearcats. A relatively defensive match ensued as few quality chances happened for both sides. The Bearcats struck first in the second half as Fred Nielsen scored in the 53rd minute. McKendree would add to their lead in the 63rd minute as Fred Nielsen tallied his second of the match. Once again, Drury outshot their opponent, 10-7, but the Bearcats held the advantage in shots on target, 3-1. 

UIS vs. Drury History

UIS holds a 6-6-4 all-time record against the Panthers. This year's matchup at Kiwanis was won 2-0 by the Prairie Stars after Riccardo Sandulli and Adrian Adames both scored in the final ten minutes. This is the second year in a row that the Prairie Stars and Panthers have faced off in the GLVC Quarterfinals. 

The bracket for the GLVC Men's Soccer Championship can be found here.

The tournament central webpage can be found here.