Drury needed every goal, including several penalty kicks, to beat Missouri S&T and then McKendree to capture their third GLVC title. Glendale grad Leah McDonald scored one of them. She says Drury is just the program she needed. “I was far from home, and I thought it would be really awesome to be a part of my community again,” said McDonald, a senior on the team. “Plus, it’s really easy for my family to be here.”
“Coach Josh [Lewis-Evans] calls her the lawnmower, because she touches every blade of grass when she goes into the game,” said Justin Olson, Drury’s head coach.
But years before she made the GLVC all-tournament team, the midfielder and team captain was a Falcon senior committing to play at Indiana State on the Division I level. “It was never one of those things where, ‘Oh, I’m coming from a division one school,’ McDonald said. “It was, ‘I’m really nervous I might not play. This team is good and I would put us up against almost anyone.”
Springfield Central grad Holland Hawkins also made the all-tournament team for the second time. “Holland comes in, she’s our enforcer.” Olson said. “For her to come in and be our leading goal scorer two years in a row proves how hard she’s really worked.”
Before she made first team all-GLVC, she also committed to play at the Division I level at Missouri-Kansas City. “The girls are amazing,” said Hawkins, a senior forward on the team. “That’s what really brought me here was the culture. And it’s so nice to be close to home.”
They are two of the 12 players from the Ozarks on the roster. That’s enough to field an entire starting squad with one player to sub in. “It’s really nice that they know me and I know them and we kind of just build off that,” Hawkins said.
And they plan to build off last year’s sweet 16 accomplishment with several ingredients home grown here in the Ozarks.
