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GLVC Tournament Bracket

GLVC Tournament Website

SOMERS, Wis. (Oct. 31, 2013)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's soccer team begins postseason play on Sunday afternoon, hosting Drury University in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament.

The Rangers secured the third-seed and will host the sixth-seeded Panthers at noon on Sunday at Wood Road Field. UW-Parkside secured the No. 3 seed after owning a 2-0 record against Rockhurst University and Bellarmine University as the three squads all tied for third place with a .700 winning percentage in conference play.

Last Meeting: The Rangers and Panthers last met on Oct. 25 at Harrison Stadium in Springfield, Mo., with host Drury prevailing 2-0. Mariah Gove accounted for both of the Panthers' goals in the contest. The last time the two squads met in Wisconsin was Sept. 9, 2012 with the Rangers prevailing 2-1. UW-Parkside and Drury have met 11 times since 2001 with the Rangers enjoying a 7-4 lead in the series.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (11-3-3, 9-3-3 GLVC) needed a win to clinch a home game and did just that with Kaela Hoecherl netting her fifth game-winning goal of the season just 62 seconds into overtime off a Stephanie Barsuli assist, giving the Rangers the 1-0 win over host Lewis University on Wednesday.

UW-P has lost just one in its last 11 games, going 8-1-2 during that stretch and outgunning opponents by an 18-5 margin while collecting seven shutouts during that stretch.

Hoecherl is the Rangers leader in both goals (eight) and points (17) while Emily Konior is second with six goals in 2013, including three penalty kick scores. Jasmine Espino and Stephanie Barsuli are tied for third on the team in both goals (four) and assists (three) while Alex Johnson is the leading distributer with six assists on the year.

In goal, Mallory Geurts continues to have a stellar debut season, starting all 17 games for the Rangers and earning nine clean sheets. The freshman has tallied 62 saves on the season and boasts a goals against average of 0.69.

About the Panthers: Drury (9-5-4, 7-4-4 GLVC) enters the postseason on a three-match unbeaten run (2-0-1) while the Panthers' stingy defense has yielded just one goal over the last six games.

Drury tallied a pair of 2-0 wins over UW-Parkside and Lewis last weekend before settling for a scoreless draw with host Missouri University S&T on Wednesday.

Despite playing in just nine of the squad's 18 games, Emily Cline leads the Panthers in scoring (six) and points (14). Mariah Gove is second on the team in scoring with five goals while Sarah Duffy has collected three goals and a team-best five assists.

Kelsey Vaught is the Panthers primary netminder, starting 14 of the team's 18 games and posting a goals against average of 0.67 with 54 saves and five shutouts. Jenna Jones has started the other four contests, making 13 saves and owning a goals against average of 1.14.

Tournament Tidbits: Other first round pairings on Sunday include seventh-seeded William Jewell College at second-seeded Truman State University, fifth-seeded Bellarmine at fourth-seeded Rockhurst and eighth-seeded McKendree University at top-seed and regular season champion Quincy University. The Jewell-Truman game will kick off a 1 p.m. with the remaining games kicking off at noon. The top remaining seed after the first round will host both the semifinals and finals. Semifinals are slated for Friday, Nov. 8 with the GLVC Championship Game slated for Sunday, Nov. 10.

GLVC Tournament Rewind: Last season the Rangers were ousted in the opening round 3-2 at the hands of Rockhurst. Drury suffered a similar fate in 2012, failing to escape the opening round after falling in penalty kicks to Quincy after playing to a 0-0 double overtime stalemate.

15 and Counting: Under head coach Troy Fabiano the Rangers have experienced 15 straight winning seasons a streak spanning all the way back to 1999, Fabiano's second year as coach. He currently owns a 201-71-26 career mark in 16 seasons at the helm, making six NCAA appearances and winning four GLVC Championships. Fabiano became the 21st active coach in NCAA Division II to eclipse 200 wins on Oct. 20 with a 1-0 win over Rockhurst University.

Three and Counting: UW-Parkside has made the NCAA Tournament the past three seasons and four of the last five years. The Rangers earned a berth to the Sweet 16 in both 2012 and 2010 while advancing to the second round in 2011.

Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly invincible at home in recent years, posting a 32-1-4 record over the last 37 games at Wood Road Field. The lone loss was a 3-2 defeat to Rockhurst on Oct. 28, 2012 in the GLVC Tournament. UW-Parkside is 9-0 at the friendly confines of Wood Road Field in 2013.

GLVC in the Top 25: Two teams represent the GLVC in this week's NSCAA Top 25 Poll. Quincy University remains No. 9 for the second consecutive week while Truman State University falls one spot to 24th. UW-Parkside is one of four teams appearing in the also receiving votes section of the poll.