ST. LOUIS – Drury women's soccer opened up Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play on Sunday afternoon against Missouri-St. Louis. The Panthers and Tritons tied at one.
 
Drury came out of the gate strong with an early shot by Holland Hawkins. The Panthers kept pressuring the Tritons' defense until a foul was called just two yards outside the penalty area. The GLVC's leading assister from the 2024 season, Elena Perez, took the free kick and, instead of looking for one of her teammates, took the shot herself and snuck it past the UMSL keeper in the 16th minute.
 
The Tritons had five more shots over the next 20 minutes before their sixth shot got past Katy Fitzler to tie the game at one.
 
In the second half, both offenses increased their intensity but were unable to find the net in the final 45 minutes. The best opportunity for the game winner came from UMSL in the final three minutes as the Tritons took five shots, all stopped by the Panthers' defense.

MATCH POINTS

• Elena Perez's goal was the second of her career.
• UMSL outshot Drury 21 to 9, but only had two more shots on goal than the Panthers (7 to 5).
• Katy Fitzler saved six shots in the game.
• Holland Hawkins recorded six shots in the match, one on goal.
• Drury had five players take a shot; UMSL had five players with multiple shots. There were 13 Tritons that had at least one shot.
• Drury continues their unbeaten streak against UMSL. The Panthers have not lost to the Tritons in the last five meetings, 3-0-2.
• Justin Olson also remains unbeaten in GLVC openers in his career, 4-0-3. His record in GLVC openers at Drury is 4-0-2.

 
UP NEXT
The Panthers travel to Rolla on Friday to face Missouri S&T for 5 pm kickoff.
 
FOLLOW THE PANTHERS
For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Panthers on drurypanthers.com. For all the latest information on Drury athletics, please visit Instagram, Facebook , and X.