LIVE STATS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s soccer team will conclude its regular-season slate Saturday afternoon in Omaha, Neb., as the Purple Aces will take Creighton in a 4:30 p.m. contest.  UE enters the match with a 3-1-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference, good for second place in league standings, a half-game ahead of Missouri State.
 
Evansville (4-7-3, 3-1-1 MVC) earned its second-straight shutout, and its third in five league games, Wednesday afternoon with a 3-0 win over Indiana State in its final 2012 regular-season game at McCutchan Stadium.  Freshman Abby Springer gave the Aces an early 1-0 lead, scoring in the 24th minute and fellow freshman Kayla Smith doubled UE’s advantage in the 55th minute, finishing a cross from Springer from close range.  The final tally of the game occurred in the 80 th minute, when a header off an Evansville corner kick deflected off the head of a Sycamore defender and ended up in the back of the ISU net for an own goal.
 
With her three points against ISU, Springer upped her season total to a team-high 12 on five goals and a pair of assists.  Smith is second on the team with nine points on four goals and one assist, while junior Stephanie Thompson ranks third with eight points.  Freshman goalkeeper Simone Busby posted her fourth shutout of the season Wednesday, making six saves, including four in the second half.  Busby enters Saturday’s regular-season finale with a 3-1-3 record, a league-best 0.36 goals against average and 39 saves.
 
Creighton (3-10-2, 0-4-0 MVC) has dropped five-straight matches entering Saturday’s contest in Omaha, and has just one win in its last eight games.  The Bluejays find themselves at the bottom of the conference standings with a 0-4-0 mark in league play, with three of their four losses being by one goal.  Creighton has been outscored, 27-17, this season, has yet to record a shutout and is allowing opponents to attempt nearly 17 shots per game. 
 
Brittney Nuemann leads the Bluejays with 13 points on six goals and an assist, Jill Richgels ranks second on the team with seven points on two goals and a team-high three assists and four CU players are tied for third on the squad with four points each.  Katie Jo Swanson has played every minute in goal for Creighton this season and enters Saturday’s contest with a 1.73 goals against average, .761 save percentage and 86 saves.
 
The Aces will be looking to end a five-match losing streak to the Bluejays, as the last Evansville win in the series came in 2008.  Creighton topped UE twice during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, and won last year’s regular-season match in Evansville.