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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After just falling just short of its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship Saturday night, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team will have three days to regroup for the MVC Tournament.  The Purple Aces will play No. 5 seed Drake in one of two quarterfinal matches Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Peoria, Ill.
 
Evansville (9-7-1) dropped a 2-1 decision to MVC regular-season champion No. 16 Creighton Saturday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium and fell all the way to the No. 4 seed after Bradley and Central Arkansas played to the tie the same night.  Freshman Mark Anthony Gonzalez scored the lone goal for UE and led the team with three shots.  The Aces held their own against the Bluejays, but CU got the game-winner from Brent Kallman in the 44th minute, when he headed in a corner kick service from Jose Ribas, and the Creighton defense held Evansville without a goal in the second half.
 
The Purple Aces have outscored their opponents, 24-23, on the season, but have given up six goals in their last three matches, while scoring just three.  UE surrendered a pair of goals at then-No. 16 Indiana, at Drake and to No. 16 Creighton on its home pitch Saturday.  In league play, Evansville allowed six goals in six matches with four of them coming in its final two conference tilts.
 
Freshman Faik Hajderovic leads the Aces’ offensively with 15 points on five goals and five assists.  Gonzalez has tallied 11 points on five goals and an assist, while senior Jesse Sharp is third on the squad with eight points, scoring three goals and dishing out a pair of helpers.  In goal, sophomore goalkeeper Eric Teppen takes a 1.35 goals against average, 67 saves and five shutouts into Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup.  In Valley matches, Teppen posted a 0.98 goals against average, turned away 21 shots and earned three clean sheets.
 
Drake (5-10-4) finished its regular-season with a 1-0 win over Missouri State Friday night in Springfield, Mo.  Nick Marshall netted the only goal of the contest in the 78th minute and secured the No. 5 seed for the Bulldogs for the MVC Tournament.  DU has been outscored, 33-19, this season and is allowing opponents to take 16.5 shots per game, nearly six more than Drake’s 10.6 shots per game average.  In Valley matches, the Bulldogs have scored seven goals and allowed the same en route to a 2-2-2 conference record. 
 
Michael Thaden leads Drake with 14 points on a team-high six goals and two assists.  Addison Eck is second on the team with five goals and a team-leading three assists for 13 points.  Rich Gallagher has played all but 19:35 between the posts for the Bulldogs and brings a 1.62 goals against average, 107 saves and four shutouts into Wednesday’s contest.
 
Evansville is 5-12-2 all-time in its 19 previous MVC Tournament matches and is winless against Drake in three previous meetings in the MVC Tournament.  The Bulldogs defeated the Aces in 2009 (2-1), 2006 (2-0) and 1997 (2-0).  In this year’s regular-season meeting Drake and Evansville played to a 2-2 tie on Oct. 27 in Des Moines, Iowa.  In the all-time series, the Bulldogs hold a 12-10-2 advantage over the Aces.