DRURY WOMEN'S SOCCER
GLVC Championship
Thursday: #7 Drury Panthers (16-4-1) vs. #2 Ashland Eagles (15-1-3) – Noon (Central) – Ashland, Ohio
 
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Panthers at Ashland for first round of NCAA-II Tournament
The Drury Panthers take on Ashland at noon (Central) in the opening round of the NCAA-II Tournament on Thursday in Ashland, Ohio. Drury is in the national tournament field for the first time since 2007 and earned an automatic bid on Sunday, winning the Great Lakes Valley Conference title with a 2-0 victory over Southern Indiana.
 
Drury is seeded seventh in the Midwest Regional, and they carry a 16-4-1 record. They head to nationals having won five straight matches.
 
Ashland is 15-1-3 and won the regular season championship, then the tournament in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Eagles clinched an automatic berth with a 2-1 at home over Cedarville in the G-MAC championship game and have also won five in a row.
 
Drury's Elsa Gonzalez, the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, leads the team with 11 goals, while goalkeeper Kaitlin Knetzke has among the best stats in Division II. The junior from Ozark is 14-4-1 and ranks third in NCAA-II in goals-against-average (0.31 GAA), and she ranks second in shutouts with 13.
 
Ashland features a balanced offensive attack led by Clark Bailey, who has a team-high seven goals to go along with three assists and 17 points. Three others players have five goals each, while two more have four goals on the season. Goalkeeper Bri Rogers has not lost this season and is 13-0-1 in net with a 0.42 GAA, and a .870 save percentage.
 
The Eagles were 8-2-1 last year but the NCAA did not conduct a postseason tournament. In 2019, they made the NCAA-II Tournament field and lost to McKendree in the opening round.
 
The winner of Thursday's game will advance to the second round to play the winner of third-seeded Ferris State and the number six seed, Saginaw Valley State on Saturday at 11 am (Central).
 
This year's national semifinals and championship will be Dec. 9 and Dec. 11 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
 
QUICK FACTS
Stat Leaders
Drury: #7 Elsa Gonzalez (11g-4a – 26 pts), #17 Chloe Cash (4g-5a – 13 pts), #18 Tara Simon (4g-1a – 9 pts), # 1 Kaitlin Knetzke (14-4-1, 0.31 GAA, .875 sv pct)
Ashland: #27 Clark Bailey (7g-3a—17 pts), #21 McKinley Mendenhall (5g-5a—15 pts), #22 Julianna Williams (4g-4a—12 pts), #41 Bri Rogers (13-0-1, 0.42 GAA, .870 sv pct)
 
Head Coaches
Drury: Justin Olson (2nd year, 20-10-1) 
Ashland: Cayleb Paulino (1^st year, 15-1-3)      
 
Qualified for NCAA-II Tournament
Drury: Automatic, GLVC Tournament Champion
Ashland: Automatic, G-MAC Tournament Champion
 
Streak
Drury: Won 5
Ashland: Won 5
 
Last meeting
Drury lost 2-1 at Ashland, Sept. 2, 2010
 
All-time series 
Drury 0-1 all-time vs. Ashland

 
#allweDUiswin