ROLLA, Mo.  --  The Miners are fighting for a spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament this weekend, with matches against Southwest Baptist on Friday at 5pm and against Rockhurst on Sunday at 12pm. Sunday's match is senior day and military appreciation day... all members of the military (both active and veteran) as well as their families will have free admission to the match.

About the Bearcats:
Southwest Baptist only played one match last week, falling to the Rockhurst Hawks 2-0 in Kansas City and dropping to a 2-8-2 conference record this year. The Bearcats only two wins of the season have been 1-0 victories over Quincy and Truman State.
 
The Miners are 4-0-1 against SBU in their last five meetings and have not lost a match at home against them since 2009.
 
The Bearcats have taken the fewest shots in the conference and the sixth fewest in the country this season with only 81 for an average of 5.4 shots per match. Junior forward Tamerra Gantt leads the team in points with six, having scored three of SBU's ten goals this season. Goalie Cece Alexander is seventh in the nation for saves per match, averaging 8.18 per contest.
 
About the Hawks:
Rockhurst has already clinched a berth in the GLVC tournament and would host a match as the four seed if the tournament started today. The Hawks are coming off a week in which they tied nationally-ranked Drury 1-1 and defeated Southwest Baptist 2-0. They will play Lincoln of Missouri on Friday before traveling to Rolla for Sunday's match.
 
The Hawks lead the all-time series against the Miners 19-6-3. S&T's best result in the last ten matches was a 0-0 double overtime tie in 2021, a match that was played in Rolla on the S&T soccer field.
 
Rockhurst's Anna Lantz has the highest average shots per game and highest average shots on goal per game in the conference, averaging 4.06 and 2.25, respectively. She is also tied for the third most goals in the conference this season with 9 and the fifth most points with 21.
 
About the Miners:
The Miners sit at 11th in the conference entering the final week of regular season competition. There is still one scenario left in which the Miners could make the conference tournament though.

The Miners will need to win both matches this weekend while Truman State, Quincy, and Upper Iowa must either all lose their remaining games or record a loss and a tie in the final week. The scenario is far from improbable, as the remaining opponents for Truman, Quincy, and UIU are all in the top six of the conference with both Truman State and Quincy having to face nationally-ranked #8 Maryville this weekend.

What's Next:
If the Miners qualify for the conference tournament, then their next match would be in the first round of the GLVC Championship on November 10th. Based on current standings, if the Miners do make it into the tournament, then their first round match would either be in St. Louis against Maryville or in Springfield against Drury.
 
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