CHICAGO (November 6, 2019) – Currently riding a program-record 10-game win streak, the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team will open play in the Missouri Valley Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Friday evening.  The top-seeded Ramblers will clash with Drake, the tournament's four seed, at 6 p.m. from Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium in Springfield, Mo
 
Last Time Out: Loyola completed a perfect 7-0-0 run through Missouri Valley Conference play as battled past Evansville, 2-0, in its regular season finale last Thursday in Evansville, Ind.  Senior Madison Laudeman broke a scoreless deadlock in the 79^th minute of play, scoring her first goal of the season, while freshman Megan Nemec, who was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on Monday, added her sixth tally of the year just seven minutes after.  Freshman goalkeeper Grace Droessler finished with a pair of saves as Loyola picked up its fifth shutout of league action.
 
vs. Drake: Drake (8-9-1, 4-3-0 MVC) comes into Friday's semifinal with Loyola as one of The Valley's hottest teams, having won five of its last six games, with the only defeat in that stretch coming in a 1-0 setback to Illinois State on November 1.  Led by head coach Lindsey Horner, Drake's most recent win came this past Monday, as it battled to a 1-0 win over fifth-seeded Valparaiso in an opening-round matchup at Tiger Field in West Des Moines, Iowa.  Cassie Rohan fired home the night's deciding goal in the 16th minute of play.  The Bulldogs are led in the offensive third by Olivia Bruce, who has scored a team-high three goals this season for a Drake attack that averages 0.76 goals per game. Vanessa Kavan has dished out a team-best three assists.  Drake relies heavily on its defense, which is anchored by goalkeeper Kelsie Stone. The Bulldog netminder finds herself in the midst of another fantastic season, having posted a sparkling 1.03 goals against average and six shutouts, five of which have come across Drake's last six games.
 
Series Stuff: Loyola and Drake have evenly split 11 previous meetings to the tune of a 4-4-3 (.500) clip.  The Ramblers have prevailed in each of the last three matchups, most recently picking up a 3-0 win back on September 28 at Tiger Stadium that featured second-half goals from Nemec and seniors Savanah Cruz and Aleksa Tataryn.  The two teams are no strangers to one another in postseason play, having met four times in the MVC Women's Soccer Championship since 2013.  When they clashed in last season's MVC Women's Soccer Championship game, Katharine Stephens scored late in the second half to cap a thrilling 3-2 comeback win for the Maroon & Gold.
 
Up Next: With a win on Friday evening, Loyola would advance to the final of the MVC Women's Soccer Championship, where the winner of the matchup between second-seeded Illinois State and third-seeded Missouri State would await on Sunday at 1 p.m.