CHICAGO, Ill. – The University of Evansville women's soccer team (10-4-3, 3-1-1) will look to secure the #2 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament when they complete the regular season at Loyola on Thursday night. The match will be held at Loyola Soccer Park beginning at 7:00 p.m.
 
With a victory or tie, Evansville would clinch the #2 seed a bye in the opening round of the MVC Tournament.
 
The Purple Aces won 3-0 at home against Northern Iowa on Saturday, October 25. The shutout, the 12^th of the season for UE, tied a program record set in 2000. 
 
Sophomore midfielder Bronwyn Boswell pushed UE ahead 1-0 on a penalty kick in the 35^th minute. Just 89 seconds later, Evansville added to their lead when freshman forward Montana Portenier scored on a cross from sophomore defender Emily Richardson for the 2-0 halftime edge. The Purple Aces tacked on another goal in the 59^th minute on a goal from freshman forward Nicki Baham for the 3-0 victory. Junior goalkeeper Simone Busby and sophomore goalkeeper Whitney Biggs combined for the shutout in the victory.
 
Bowell leads the Purple Aces with eight goals, 16 points, 39 shots, 18 shots on goal and six game winning goals.  Baham has the next highest goal total on the team with four, followed by junior defender Holyn Marshall and freshman defender Olivia Shafer, who each have three goals scored.
 
Busby has eight solo shutouts this year and 12 overall this fall. She holds a 0.55 goals against average, has a saves percentage of .871, and is now 10-4-3 this season.
 
Evansville is averaging 1.47 goals per game and 15.1 shots per match. The Purple Aces have also taken 84 corner kicks compared to just 47 by their opponents.
 
Loyola (4-12-1, 1-3-1) was projected to finish third in the MVC preseason poll and is currently tied for fifth place in league play.
 
The Ramblers have lost three consecutive matches, all in overtime, and have not won a game since September 26. Loyola was defeated 2-1 in their last match at Missouri State on October 25. A Molly Huber goal in the 96^th minute was the game-winner for Missouri State last weekend.
 
Valerie Gonyo and Ava Senn-Raemont both have a team-high four goals this season for Loyola. Jessica Bean, Shelby Koch, Monika Lee and Hailey Merrill each have a team-best two assists this year.
 
Monica Gonyo has played the majority of minutes in net this season for the Ramblers, going 4-12-1 with 74 saves, a 1.67 goals against average and a .718 saves percentage.
 
Loyola is averaging 9.4 shots and 1.12 goals per match. The Ramblers have totaled 62 corner kicks this season.
 
Loyola is 3-0-1 in the all-time series against Evansville. The Purple Aces tied the Ramblers 3-3 in the only match-up between the two teams at Loyola (1994).