Women's Soccer Preview
Sun: #5 Drury vs #3 Grand Valley State, 12pm, Allendale, Michigan, GVSU Soccer Field
 
Game Information
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Drury and Grand Valley St. meet for the first time since 2007
Grand Valley State host Drury in the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championship on December 1, in Allendale, Michigan with a bid to the Elite Eight up for grabs.
 
The Panthers are coming off of an upset win against the top-seeded Ashland in the second round of the national tournament, 1-0. Drury controlled a majority of the first half against the Eagles, resulting in their best opportunity, an Ines Villanueva Casal free kick from 20 yards out. Tied at half, 0-0, the Panthers came out of the break with more energy finding the net two minutes into the second 45 with a goal from Bella Hernandez. Hernandez got the assist from Elena Perez on the free kick. Katy Fitzler and the Drury defense would have to lock up for the remainder of the game, facing nine shots from the strong Eagles' offense.
 
Drury has won two straight games coming off their loss to McKendree in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Semifinals. The loss to McKendree was only their second of the season and their first since they lost to Maryville on Sept. 29. The Panthers ended the regular season on a nine-game unbeaten streak.

Drury drew Northern Michigan for the first round of the NCAA-II tournament. Against the Wildcats, Drury scored four goals, three in the first half. The Panthers' defense was anchored by all-region selection, Andrea Camargo, who shut down the Northern Michigan offense that came into the tournament as the second-ranked scoring offense in the region, only behind Maryville.
 
Along with Camargo, Kourtney Tucker was named to the D2CCA all-region team on Tuesday. Tucker is second on the team in points with 16, including four assists and six goals. Drury, offensively, is led by Holland Hawkins, who has 11 goals on the season. The transfer from Missouri–Kansas City's last goal was against McKendree in the conference semifinals, which was her third goal of the season against the Bearcats. In net, Katy Fitzler leads the nation in shutouts with 14. One more shutout for Fitzler, and she will break the Drury single-season record by passing Kaitlin Knetzke. The win over Ashland gave Justin Olson his 100th career win.
 
Grand Valley State beat Maryville to reach the regional championship. The Lakers gave the GLVC regular season champions a 1-0 loss. The match against Maryville was a physical one with four total yellow cards, three to GVSU, and 20 total fouls, ten apiece. Kennedy Bearden was the lone scorer in the 18th minute. In the previous round, GVSU took down Missouri–St. Louis, the GLVC tournament champions, 2-0. 
 
The Lakers have only one loss on the season, that coming on October 6 against Davenport, 1-0. Since that loss, Grand Valley is 7-0-4. GVSU lost in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Semifinals to Saginaw Valley State in penalty kicks after beating the Cardinals a combined 5-0 in the regular season in two meetings. Grand Valley had a strong start to the season with the first game of the season being against Ashland, who at the time was ranked ninth in the nation, Grand Valley won that game 1-0. Three games later, GVSU traveled to Warrensburg, Missouri, to play at the time the fourth-ranked team in the country, Central Missouri. The Lakers took care of business and won 2-1.
 
Emma Chudik and Alli French are the offensive statistical leaders for the Lakers, both with four goals and three assists. Neither Chudik nor French have scored in the GLIAC or the national tournament, but both have accounted for four of the six assists that the Lakers have had over those four games. Grand Valley has played three girls in net this season, however, Cailynn Junk has started 20 games for the Lakers only allowing eight goals all season. Junk is sixth in the nation in goals against average with a .402.
 
This is Grand Valley's 19th straight regional championship appearance. Drury has only made it this far once in their program's history, in 2007. The Panthers' opponent in that game was Grand Valley. The Lakers won that game 4-1. That 2007 NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championship was the only time that Drury and GVSU have played. Grand Valley won the region last season and lost in the round of eight to Washburn.
 
Drury is scoring about a goal more per game than Grand Valley. However, the Lakers are not allowing opponents to score at a high rate. Drury is allowing a half-goal a game and GVSU is at .36. The Panthers are taking more shots than nearly everyone in the country at 19.18. Out of the remaining 16 teams left in the national tournament, this ranks fourth. Both the Lakers and Panthers have 46% of their shots on goal. On the flip side, Grand Valley is only allowing 37 percent of the opponent's shots on goal and Drury is allowing 52 percent.  
 
The winner will advance to the NCAA-II Elite Eight and face the winner of the central regional championship between Central Missouri and Minnesota State – Mankato. The game will be played on December 7 at the school that wins the Central Region.
 
QUICK FACTS
Stat Leaders
Drury: #00 Katy Fitzler (16-2-4, 46 saves, .50 GAA, .817 sv pct), #14 Holland Hawkins (11g-22p)
GVSU: #0 Cailynn Junk (12-1-7, 71 saves, .40 GAA, .899 sv pct), #17 Emma Chudik (4g-3a-11p), #24 Alli French (4g-3a-11p)
 
Head Coaches
Drury: Justin Olson (5^th season, 56-20-19)
GVSU: Katie Hultin (3^rd season, 44-7-18)
 
Streak:
Drury: Won 2
GVSU: Won 2
 
Last Game in NCAA Tournament:
Drury: Won vs Ashland 1-0, Nov. 24, 2024, regional 2^nd round, game played in Ashland, Ohio
GVSU: Won vs Maryville 1-0, Nov. 24, 2024, regional 2^nd round, game played in St. Louis, Missouri
 
Last Meeting
Drury lost vs GVSU, 4-1, Nov. 16, 2007 (NCAA-II Midwest Regional Championship)
 
All-time series
Drury is 0-1 vs Grand Valley State
 
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