SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drake University women's soccer team plays UNI in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The annual tournament is hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. Friday's match will be broadcast on The Valley on ESPN3.
 
As the MVC regular season champions, Drake (13-3-2) earned the No. 1 seed, as it vies to win its second-ever MVC Tournament title and earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. For the fifth time in program history, the Bulldogs went undefeated in conference play with a 6-0-1 record this year, to claim their sixth MVC regular season title. The 2006 team won the MVC Tournament and earned the program's lone berth to the NCAA Tournament. The 2006 team is the only Drake team to play in a MVC championship game.
 
No. 4 UNI (13-4-1) advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 victory over No. 5 Illinois State in a quarterfinal match Sunday. Junior Kelsey Yarrow scored a first-half goal for the Panthers as they defeated the league's preseason favorites. UNI is trying to advance to the championship game for the first time in school history.
 
Drake and UNI met Oct. 10 in Des Moines as the Bulldogs held on for a 2-1 win. The two teams have played 16 games all-time with the Bulldogs holding a 9-4-3 advantage, but this will be first meeting between the teams in the MVC Tournament.
 
The winner between Drake and UNI advances to Sunday's title game at 1 p.m., where they will play either No. 2 Missouri State or No. 3 Loyola. Those teams will play each other Friday night at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs battled the Bears to a 0-0 draw on Oct. 17 in Springfield and defeated the Ramblers, 1-0, in the regular season finale on Oct. 26 in Des Moines, Iowa.