INDIANAPOLIS – Defending league champion McKendree University was voted atop the 2021 preseason Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) women’s soccer poll, the league office announced on Wednesday.
The preseason poll is selected by the league’s 15 head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own team.
McKendree earned 187 points and 10 first-place votes in the 2021 preseason poll, followed by 2020-21 runner-up University of Southern Indiana with 172 points and three first-place votes. The University of Indianapolis (163 points) and Lindenwood University (148) finished Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, while Rockhurst University (140) placed fifth and snagged a first-place vote. Finishing Nos. 6-9 were Quincy University (129), Maryville University (118), Truman State University (93), and Drury University (92) – which earned the remaining first-place vote - while the University of Missouri-St. Louis (89) rounded out the top 10. The remaining programs finished in their respective No. 11-15 positions as follows: Lewis University (87), University of Illinois Springfield (58), Missouri S&T (52), William Jewell College (29), and Southwest Baptist University (18).
The Bearcats earned 14 wins this past spring, rising as high as No. 4 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll en route to their first GLVC crown since 2017 in the 2020-21 spring-shortened season. McKendree returns five of its six All-GLVC performers from a season ago, including Co-Freshman of the Year Anna Stiffler and first-team honorees Emma Knoebel and Danielle Knutson. Keeper Mercedes King is also back between the pipes for the Bearcats, while Morgan Bova returns to the backline. Knoebel and Stiffler led the GLVC with 19 points apiece last spring, with the former notching five in the championship match against Southern Indiana on two scores and a helper. Defensively, the team posted nine shutouts, including six from King, who also made 20 saves over 939-plus minutes of action. McKendree enters the 2021 fall campaign ranked No. 4 in the national coaches’ poll.
Southern Indiana returns four of its league-best seven All-GLVC honorees from last spring, coming off its second straight trip to the GLVC Championship match, including first-team selection Morgan Beyer. Beyer, who was voted the lone freshman to the All-GLVC First Team in 2020-21, registered 18 points in 17 matches on eight goals and two assists. The Screaming Eagles had the most potent offense among GLVC members in the spring, scoring 35 times for an average of 2.1 scores per contest. Katlyn Andres and Jill DiTusa also return for USI, who combined for 26 points as all-league selections. Andres led the GLVC with nine helpers.
Reigning GLVC Defensive Player of the Year Dana Youssef from UIndy and GLVC Co-Freshman of the Year Maggie Weller of Lindenwood return also return for their respective programs. Youssef led a Greyhound defense that surrendered just nine goals and recorded as many clean sheets, while Weller tallied 11 points on five goals and one assist.
The 2021 GLVC women’s soccer season kicks off Sunday, September 12.
The complete voting results can be found below.
2021 GLVC WOMEN’S SOCCER PRESEASON POLL
| Place |
School |
Points (1st-place votes) |
| 1 |
McKendree |
187 (10) |
| 2 |
Southern Indiana |
172 (3) |
| 3 |
Indianapolis |
163 |
| 4 |
Lindenwood |
148 |
| 5 |
Rockhurst |
140 (1) |
| 6 |
Quincy |
129 |
| 7 |
Maryville |
118 |
| 8 |
Truman |
93 |
| 9 |
Drury |
92 (1) |
| 10 |
Missouri-St. Louis |
89 |
| 11 |
Lewis |
87 |
| 12 |
Illinois Springfield |
58 |
| 13 |
Missouri S&T |
52 |
| 14 |
William Jewell |
29 |
| 15 |
Southwest Baptist |
18 |