LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the No. 22 Bellarmine University women's soccer team, finishing the regular season strong would mean plenty of high-fives and back slaps away from Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

Four of Bellarmine's final five matches will take place on the road, starting at 6 p.m. (ET) Friday at Missouri S&T (2-8, 2-7 Great Lakes Valley Conference) and continuing at 1 p.m. Sunday at Drury (4-7-1, 2-7-1).

The Knights (9-1-2, 7-1-2) are locked in a three-way tie with Rockhurst and Missouri-St. Louis for second place in the GLVC.

"Our talk is always about our process and our performance," Bellarmine Coach Chris Tinius said. "I think that's part of why we've been able to fight through ups and downs the last few years. We say all the time if you take care of details and maximize what you can do as an individual and team, the rest will take care of itself. This is a difficult league so there is no surprise we've got a lot of quality teams at the top, and really all the way through the standings. We need to be the best team we can be over the next 15 days, and it will sort itself out."

Missouri S&T is coming off a 2-0 loss to McKendree and a 1-0 setback to Illinois Springfield. Kayla Foster leads the Miners with three goals. Last weekend, Drury defeated Illinois Springfield 2-0 before falling 4-0 to McKendree. Kerri Morris and Uxoa Bertiz Ayuso have two goals apiece for the Panthers.

"Both teams this weekend will definitely present some challenges regardless of where they sit in the standings right now," Tinius said. "S&T always has some athletic attacking players that make them a danger to strike regardless of how the flow of the game might be going — we found that out the hard way a couple of years ago (in the GLVC Tournament).

"Drury has had a rough go this year from a record perspective, but there's a reason they were picked where they were (sixth) in the preseason. There is some very good talent on that roster. I think there might be some confidence issues because things haven't gone their way, but all you have to do is look at their results from the Truman/Quincy weekend (2-1 loss to Truman; 1-0 win over Quincy) to know they can compete with the top teams in our league on a given day. Life on the road in the GLVC is not easy, so we will be facing two teams that will feel a lot better about their seasons if they can knock off Bellarmine. We need to be ready to go."

As strong as Bellarmine's record is, the Knights have had bouts of subpar play. While Friday's 1-1 tie with Rockhurst yielded a satisfactory result, Bellarmine still wasn't pleased with its on-field product. The Knights were then steady all around in a 2-0 victory Sunday over William Jewell.

"Our pattern so far for most of the season has been: not as sharp on Friday, we have a talk on Saturday and then play better on Sunday," Tinius said. "The funny thing is it's supposed to be harder to be sharp on Sunday games because of the fatigue factor. I think it's really more of a consistent focus issue, and that's been an issue since we started preseason. I feel like we're getting a lot closer to breaking that pattern, and hopefully it starts this weekend. With four of the last five on the road, we're going to need consistent focus to get results."

Two of Bellarmine's primary strengths are its depth and versatility, and that may need to be on display against Missouri S&T and Drury. Workhorse seniors Lexy Hazle, a left back, and Sydney Kraus, a holding midfielder, are the only non-goalies in the 1,000-minute range, with time on the field largely being spread with some exceptions. Kraus has logged some time at center back and players such as sophomores Audrey Van Der Elst, Polly Marino and Jordan Chlebowy are capable of lining up in the middle or up front. That flexibility could turn into a necessity.

"We are going to need all hands on deck this weekend with some people possibly ready to play some different spots," Tinius said. "We picked up a couple more knocks last weekend and are waiting to see who might be cleared to be back. We even have a healthy player that will be missing that has one weekend each year where she has commitments with one of her academic programs. Again, this is why the things we mentioned earlier are so important. If everyone is taking care of details and focused, I feel confident people will step up no matter where they are asked to play."

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Bellarmine at Missouri S&T
Date: Friday, Oct. 14
Time: 6 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Missouri S&T Soccer Field
Video
Live Stats

Bellarmine at Drury
Date: Sunday, Oct. 16
Time: 1 (ET)
Venue: Harrison Stadium
Video
Live Stats