• MVC Tournament Central
• Live Stats Of The 2008 State Farm MVC Tournament
The second half of the season has been a challenge for the University of Evansville men's soccer team, especially with leading scorer Mike Luttrull sidelined with a hamstring injury. But a new season begins Wednesday when the Purple Aces host the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Tournament at Black Beauty Field.
Number three seed Missouri State (6-9-4, 3-1-1) plays number six Eastern Illinois (5-10-3, 0-5-0) at 5:00, followed by the fourth seeded Aces (9-7-1, 2-3-0) against Bradley (6-11-1, 1-4-0) at 7:30. The Missouri State-Eastern Illinois winner plays second seed and 22nd ranked Drake (13-4-0, 4-1-0) on Friday in the semifinals. The Evansville-Bradley winner goes up against the nation's number two ranked team, Creighton (12-1-2, 4-0-1), in the other match Friday. The championship is scheduled for Sunday at 1:05, and will be televised live by Fox Sports Midwest.
""Everything builds towards this time of year, and we are excited about the opportunity to host the Missouri Valley Conference championships," UE Coach Mike Jacobs says. "We know that the experience we gained playing one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country has helped prepare us for the rigors of post-season play."
Evansville has played eight teams that have been nationally ranked during the year, and the Aces have beaten three of them--Butler, Western Illinois and Bradley.
Wednesday's Evansville-Bradley game is a re-match from 10 days ago, when the Aces beat the Braves 2-1 thanks to a goal in the 98th minute by Tom Irvin. It was the only match Evansville has won this season without Luttrull in the lineup. The sophomore forward leads the team in scoring with nine goals and four assists for 22 points despite playing in only 11 of the team's 17 matches. Evansville is 8-3-0 with Luttrull in the lineup, and 1-4-1 without him.
Despite Luttrull's absence, the Aces are still ranked 37th nationally in scoring this season with 1.82 goals per match, and Irvin is ranked fourth nationally this week in assists with 11.
Tickets for the State Farm MVC Tournament are available at the gate each day. Gates open one hour prior to the first match.
