EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men’s soccer team continues Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend, hosting Missouri State Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
HISTORY LESSON
The Aces look to catch up in the all-time series, entering the match trailing 8-12-3. In the last meeting, the third seeded Bears took a 2-0 win over the Aces in the quarterfinal round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament on Nov. 10, 2010. UE’s last victory over MSU was on Nov. 13, 2009 in the MVC semifinals. The Aces won, 2-1, in overtime over the Bears who were ranked 19th nationally and that year’s regular season champions.
CATCH THE ACTION
SCOUTING THE BEARS (4-5-2, 2-0 MVC)
Missouri State recorded its first-ever win over a top-five opponent, Wednesday, upsetting No. 4 Creighton in a 1-0 shutout at Plaster Field. The win marked their third shutout of the season, as the Bears have won three out of the past four matches. Heath Melugin (2g, 3a, 7pts) and Jordan Hoffman (2g, 2a, 6pts) lead the attack, while goalkeeper Trevor Spangenberg has piloted the defense with a 1.15 GAA, 20 saves, .606 save percentage, and three shutouts.
SCOUTING THE PURPLE ACES (5-5-0, 0-2 MVC)
Evansville comes off a tough, 2-1, loss to the visiting Drake Bulldogs in the first home Missouri Valley Conference match of the season. Battling pouring rain and a slick Black Beauty field Wednesday night, the Aces outshot the Bulldogs, 15-7 and 9-7 on goal, including 10 shots in the first half which matched the squad’s season-high. Freshman
Charlie Macias tallied his first career goal tying the match, one all, in 54th minute, but DU scored the winning-goal in the 62nd minute. Freshman
Ryan Stallings led UE with four shots, three on goal, while freshman
Eric Teppen finished with five saves in the 90:00 minute match.
SHARP SHOOTER
Junior
Jesse Sharp leads Evansville with four goals, including two game-winners, six assists, and 14 points this fall.
BALANCED ATTACK
Sharp’s 14 points and
Ryan Stallings’ 12 (5g, 2a) pilot UE’s well-balanced offense, as nine players have found the back of the net at least once this fall and 15 have recorded points.
NEW AND OLD GOAL
UE’s goal versus Drake was a result of a veteran-rookie combination in which senior Jarrett Robbins made a nice cross to first-year Charlie Macias who chipped in the score. Evansville’s young squad consists of 14 freshmen and three seniors.
LEAGUE LEADERS
On the season, UE is No. 1 in the MVC for assists (25) and assists per game (2.50), in addition to second in goals per game (1.80). Individually, Jesse Sharp ranks first in assists per game (0.60) and second in points per game (1.40).
Eric Teppen ranks first in the conference in saves per game (5.50) and second in save percentage (.815). Teppen 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.
