The University of Illinois Springfield women's soccer team will begin their playoff journey against the Drury Panthers on Sunday at noon in Springfield, Missouri. The Prairie Stars finished the conference season in 6th with a 7-4-2 record. Sierra Cenek leads the Stars with 7 goals and 2 assists on the year. Abby Dellamorte has 6 goals and 6 assists. Madison Grandys, Carolyne Mathenia, and Avery Harrison all have 2 goals on the year as well. 

UIS (7-5-5, 7-4-2)

Friday night against Lewis was a tight game on a cold and windy night in Romeoville. Both squads had some great chances in the match with UIS outshooting the Flyers 13-8 with a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal. The best chance for the Prairie Stars came in the 78th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick. Madison Grandys saw her attempt saved by the Lewis goalkeeper to keep the score 0-0, which is where the match ended. 

Sunday saw the Prairie Stars against the Greyhounds of Indianapolis. This was another match that was tightly contested and featured some good chances for both squads. The match turned in the 81st minute when Allison Mirimanian made a great diving save onto the crossbar to keep the scores level. Less than a minute later Maren Wolf played a freekick forward, Katelyn Cavanaugh headed it on to Abby Dellamorte, who turned and struck a left-footed volley into the corner. The lone goal was enough for the Stars as they held on for a 1-0 win. UIndy outshot UIS 9-7, but the Stars held a slight advantage, 5-4, in shots on goal.

Drury (12-3-2, 9-2-2)

The Panthers finished the GLVC season in 3rd place after leading the conference for most of the year. 

Friday night against UMSL was a tight contest between two tournament teams. The lone goal of the match came in the 12th minute from Kourtney Tucker. Drury outshot the Tritons 10-4 with a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. 

Sunday's match against McKendree had huge implications on who would be GLVC regular season champions. Coming into the match, Drury and Maryville were both on 29 points and McKendree was on 27, so a win for the Panthers would clinch the regular season title. The Panthers took the lead right before halftime as Mel Schneider scored as Kourtney Tucker assisted. McKendree answered back less than three minutes after the intermission as Lena Higgins scored for the Bearcats. In the 73rd minute disaster struck for the Panthers as their goalkeeper fumbled a shot into her own net. The Panthers could not find a response as McKendree won their seventh match in a row 2-1. Drury outshot McKendree 17-8 with a 6-2 advantage in shots on target. 

Drury is led by Kourtney Tucker who has 5 goals and 3 assists on the season. Andrea Camargo, Tara Simon, and Mel Schneider all have 3 goals on the season. There are six other Panthers that have scored 2 goals as well. Danielle Buker and Elena Perez, along with Tucker, lead the team with 3 assists. 

UIS vs. Drury History

UIS currently holds a 3-9-3 record against Drury. In this year's matchup, UIS emerged victorious 1-0 on a goal from Madison Grandys at Kiwanis. In 2022, the Prairie Stars and Panthers battled to a 0-0 draw in Springfield, Missouri.

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

The tournament central webpage can be found here.