FAYETTE, Iowa - UIU women's soccer hits the road before homecoming week to face Illinois Springfield (4-4-1, 2-3-1 GLVC) and Southwest Baptist (Mo.) (3-6-1, 1-5 GLVC). The Peacocks face the Prairie Stars in Kiwanis Stadium on Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m. and the Bearcats at SBU Soccer Field on Saturday, Oct. 3 at noon.
LIVE OPTIONS
Fans unable to attend the games this weekend can stay connected with a pair of live options available at UIUPeacocks.com/Live, featuring access to live stats and a pay-per-view webcast through GLVCSN. Fans can also refer to the links attached to this story for all live options.
In addition to GLVCSN.com, viewers can catch the Peacocks on the GLVCSN iOS and Android mobile app, as well as the GLVCSN app on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV.
LAST TIME OUT
UIU suffered losses to Maryville (Mo.) (4-4-2, 4-4-1 GLVC) and Rockhurst (Mo.) (8-1-1, 6-1 GLVC) this past week at Harms-Eischeid Stadium. Both teams are in the top five of the conference standings.
Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Harding totaled 20 saves in the net on the week. Giovanna Alexa Garcia had a shot against Rockhurst. Stephany Castillo and Taylor Marie Inocleda-Bihag played every minute in both games.
STATISTICS SUMMARY
Harding continues to lead the GLVC in saves with 84, averaging 9.33 per game. She also ranks fourth in the nation in saves per game. Harding is second nationally in total saves with 84.
Freshman Maryn Hudson has totaled the most points for the Peacocks this season, scoring three goals. She's tied for seventh in the GLVC in goals scored. Hudson leads the team in shots on goal with five.
Alexa Garcia has added three points with a goal and an assist. Four Peacocks have recorded an assist in Haylie Hutchinson, Kea Cabinalla-Ku, Aeryn Hatico and Alyssa Torres.
AROUND THE GLVC
No. 24 McKendree (Ill.) (10-1, 6-1 GLVC) and Rockhurst are tied at the top of the conference with 18 points each. Missouri-St. Louis (6-1-2, 5-0-1 GLVC) has yet to lose a conference game in third place with 16 points.
Quincy (Ill.) (4-2-4, 4-1-2) is in fourth with 14 points, and Maryville is in fifth with 13 points. UMSL and Quincy face each other on Wednesday in this week's lone GLVC matchup between top-five conference teams.
McKendree has the top two goal scorers in the conference in Maddie Mauch with 10 goals and Aubrey Andrews with nine goals. Quincy's Rebecca Rheinheimer has the next most with seven goals, while its goalkeeper Devin Tracy leads the conference in save percentage at 84.1%.
The Bearcats have totaled 32 goals to top the conference as a team, while Maryville and Rockhurst each have 22. Quincy leads the GLVC in goals allowed with seven, while McKendree is second with eight. Rockhurst, UMSL and Illinois Springfield each have allowed 11.
ABOUT THE PRAIRIE STARS
Illinois Springfield enters the contest after a 1-1 week, defeating Quincy 1-0 but losing to Missouri-St. Louis 4-1. UIS had previously given up only one goal or less in every game this season before the loss to the Tritons on Saturday.
Senior goalkeeper Gigi Yurevich has made 25 saves this season and allowed 11 goals for a 69.4% save percentage. She's started all nine games and played every minute this season for the Prairie Stars.
Junior forward Mallory Herber has a team-high three goals this season on 15 shots. Forward Addi Wittenberg has two goals and an assist, while midfielder Rachel Riney has added two goals. Sophomore midfielder Sophia Davila leads the Prairie Stars in shots with 22 (13 on goal) and has added two assists.
Head coach Scott Myers is in his third season with UIS in 2026. He has a 17-20-6 record in his three seasons with Illinois Springfield.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
Southwest Baptist enters this week after a road win against UIndy (1-7, 1-6 GLVC) on Sunday. Before that game, the Bearcats had lost six straight games. After not scoring for three games, the Bearcats have scored in their past three contests, totaling six goals in the past week of play.
Junior Argentinian Juana Fernandez Calvo leads that scoring attack with three goals and three assists. Sophomore Addi Shuler scored two goals this past Wednesday against Missouri S&T, and has totaled three of them with an assist this season. Lydia Fickle and Eli Steel each have two goals for the Bearcats this season. 10 different SBU players have knocked in a goal this year.
Goalkeeper Cece Alexander has started all 10 games for the Bearcats. She's recorded 34 saves and has a 64.2% save percentage. Alexander is tied for the sixth-most saves in the GLVC.
Debbie Pekel is in her first season with the Bearcats as head coach. She came from Spartanburg Methodist College in South Carolina, bringing 10 years of coaching experience to the program.
