SPRINGFIELD, Mo.– The Drury Panthers won their first Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament game since 2008 as they defeated Lewis 2-0 in the league quarterfinals on Sunday at Harrison Stadium in Springfield.
The Panthers, seeded second in the tournament, improved to 13-4-1 and ended Lewis' season at 9-6-2. The Flyers were seeded seventh.
Drury not only advances but will host the rest of the conference tournament as the Panthers are the highest remaining after the league quarterfinals. Eighth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis defeated regular season champion McKendree 2-1 in a game decided by penalty kicks to give the Panthers home field in the semifinals.
Drury will play Missouri S&T, the sixth seed, on Friday at a time to be announced on Monday. The Miners defeated Truman State, the number three seed, 2-0 in Kirksville on Sunday. The Panthers were the only home team and higher-seeded club to win in Sunday's quarterfinals as Southern Indiana, seeded fifth, also won on the road defeating fourth-seeded Indianapolis 1-0.
Drury had several scoring chances in the game's first 15 minutes but broke through in the 20
th minute on a goal from
Tara Simon. Simon, earlier this week named the GLVC Freshman of the Year, fired a shot past the goalkeeper on an assist from
Elsa Gonzalez.
Lewis nearly tied the game in the 30
th minute when Cameron Sengstock broke free and was alone in front of the goal, but Panthers goalkeeper
Kaitlin Knetzke made a diving save to her right to keep the ball out of the net and preserve the 1-0 lead.
With 5:55 remaining in regulation, Drury put the game out of reach with their second goal.
Chloe Cash fed a pass in front of the net to Gonzalez, who scored her 10
th goal of the season to give Drury a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers were making their first postseason appearance since 2015, and their win on Sunday advances them to the semifinals for the first time since 2008.
GLVC Quarterfinals Scores
#2 DRURY 2 #7 Lewis 0
#6 Missouri S&T 2 #3 Truman St. 0
#5 Southern Indiana 1 #4 Indianapolis 0
#8 Missouri-St. Louis 1 #1 McKendree 1 (UMSL wins on penalty kicks)
GLVC Semifinals – Fri., Nov. 12 -- Harrison Stadium, Springfield, Mo. (Times TBA)
#5 Southern Indiana vs #8 Missouri-St. Louis
#2 DRURY vs #6 Missouri S&T
#allweDUiswin
