EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- After nearly a month on the road, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team hosts Drake Wednesday at Arad McCutchan Stadium. The contest, which marks the Aces’ first home Missouri Valley Conference match of the season, is set to start at 7:00 p.m. CT.
HISTORY
The Aces look to tie up the all-time series, entering the match trailing one. The Bulldogs have won seven of the last eight meetings. UE’s last victory was on Oct. 23, 2009 at home. The Aces won, 1-0, in front of a national television audience on the Fox Soccer Channel National Game of the Week.
CATCH THE ACTION
SCOUTING THE PURPLE ACES (5-4-0, 0-1 MVC)
Evansville comes off a 2-0 loss at SIU Edwardsville in the MVC-opener last Saturday. The Aces rallied, holding a 6-1 shot on goal advantage in the second half, but SIUE goalie Scott Meyer made all the saves. UE keeper
Eric Teppen recorded four saves in the full match. On the season, Teppen owns a 4-3 record, including two shutouts, in addition to a 1.13 GAA, 39 saves, and a .830 save percentage.
Jesse Sharp (14 points),
Ryan Stallings (12 points) and
Dylan Terry (7 points) lead the Aces’ attack.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS (7-4-1, 1-0 MVC)
Drake comes off last Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Bradley University. Nick Marshall scored the game-winning goal in the 68th minute, while goalkeeper Jordan Kadlec recorded the shutout with six saves. Kadlec was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. On the season Kadlec owns a 4-2-1 record, 1.35 GAA, 40 saves, and a .800 save percentage. Charles Schwartz (4g, 7a, 15pts), Matt Kuhn (6g, 2a, 14pts), and Thomas Ostrender (3g, 4a, 10pts) lead Drake’s conference-leading offense. The Bulldogs lead the MVC in points (73, 6.08/game) and goals (25, 2.08/game).
SHARP SHOOTER
Junior
Jesse Sharp led Evansville with six shots, all in the second half, including three on goal in the Aces’ 2-0 conference-opening loss at SIUE. In every match UE has scored at least one goal (6-of-9 matches), Sharp has recorded points in each of those contests, having a hand in 10 of UE’s 17 goals. Sharp leads Evansville with four goals, including two game-winners, six assists, and 14 points this fall.
LEAGUE LEADERS
On the season, UE is No. 1 in the MVC for assists (24) and assists per game (2.67). Individually, Jesse Sharp ranks first in assists per game (0.67) and points per game (1.56). Freshman
Eric Teppen ranks second in the conference in save percentage (.830) and has also recorded the most saves in a single match among MVC teams, recording 10 vs. Loyola on Sept. 18.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
In this week’s NCAA rankings, UE ranks 28th nationally in scoring offense (1.89).
Jesse Sharp ranks 18th in assists/game (.56) and 28th in total assists (5), as well as 34th in points per game (1.44).
Ryan Stallings ranks 40th in goals/game (.56) and goalkeeper
Eric Teppen ranks 14th in saves/game (5.57) and 24th for save percentage (.830).
TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM TOP 20
Four men and two women UE soccer players made the MVC Top 20 Player rankings by TopDrawerSoccer.com. On the men’s side,
Jesse Sharp (No. 6),
Ryan Stallings (No. 8),
Aaron Henkle (No. 12), and
Tad Kreamalmeyer (No. 18) represented Evansville on the list.
