SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Kickoff between No. 4 seed Drake and top-seeded Loyola in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals is slated for 6 p.m. on Friday in Springfield, Mo. It is a rematch of last year's conference tournament championship game, which the Ramblers won, 3-2.
 
The two sides squared off in Des Moines on Sept. 28, with the Ramblers netting three second-half goals to prevail, 3-0.
 
Drake and Loyola are both playing their best soccer of the year. The Bulldogs have won five of their last six matches and allowed only one goal in that span, and the Ramblers have won ten consecutive games.
 
Live stats and a live stream will be available for the match, and links can be found on www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com. Follow @DrakeWSoccer on Twitter for the latest updates and news.
 
Scouting Loyola
 
The Ramblers (12-4-1, 7-0-0 MVC) tout three of the top attackers in the Valley. Aleksa Tataryn (seven goals), Megan Nemec (six), and Simone Wark (five) all rank in the top five in the conference in goals scored this season.
 
The trio also ranks in the top five of the league's best point-scorers, with Nemec recording 17 points (2^nd), Wark earning 15 (T-3^rd), and Tataryn collecting 14 (T-5^th).
 
Nemec and Wark are tied for the conference lead with five assists, and teammates Katharine Stephens and Savanah Cruz aren't far off the pace with each having tallied four assists this year.
 
All that firepower translates to the MVC's second-most potent offense, with the Ramblers averaging 1.88 goals per game. Something will have to give between Loyola's explosive offense and Drake's stingy defense, a unit that limits opponents to 1.00 goals per game, second-best in the Valley.
 
Goalie Tale of the Tape
 
Friday's match will pit two of the league's top goalkeepers against each other in Drake's Kelsie Stone and Loyola's Grace Droessler.
 
Stone ranks second in the conference in goals against average (1.03), save percentage (.806), shutouts (six), and saves (75).
 
Droessler owns a 1.10 goals against average and a .770 save percentage while recording five shutouts and 47 saves this season.