LIVE STATS | UE GAME NOTES

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's soccer team begins the 2015 regular season by hosting Xavier University on Friday, August 21. The match will be held at Arad McCutchan Stadium and start at 7:00 p.m. CDT.
 
WHAT TO EXPECT

• UE eyes their second straight season-opening win
• The Purple Aces eye their first win over Xavier since 2010
• Evansville is 4-2-1 in season openers under head coach Krista McKendree.

 
THE OPPONENT
Xavier finished last season 3-13-1 including a 0-8-1 mark in the Big East (10^th place). The Musketeers only tallied 10 total goals last fall but Xavier did have a .468 % for shots on goal.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Evansville tied Austin Peay 1-1 on the road in their final exhibition match on Saturday, August 15. Senior midfielder Allie Arguello recorded the only goal for UE who finished the preseason slate 1-0-1.
 
THE COACHES
McKendree (53-62-17) is in her eight season as Purple Aces head coach. Woody Sherwood (32-52-8) begins his sixth season as head coach for the Musketeers.
 
HISTORY
Xavier leads the all-time series 7-5-2 against Evansville. The last meeting resulted in a 1-0 Musketeers home win on Sept. 4, 2013. The last game at UE was a 1-1 tie on Sept. 15, 2012. Evansville's last win over Xavier occurred in a 2-0 victory at home on Sept. 17, 2010.
 
WE'RE NUMBER ONE
The UE women's soccer team was ranked #1 in the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference preseason coach's poll. The Aces will look to unseat back to back champion Illinois State for the title this year. Junior midfielder Bronwyn Boswell, senior goalkeeper Simone Busby, and sophomore forward Montana Portenier were named to the preseason All-Conference team. Sophomore midfielder/forward Nicki Baham received honorable mention.
 
NATIONAL HONOR
Senior goalkeeper Simone Busby will be playing for the Guyana National Team as they compete in CONCACAF Qualifying later this month. Busby also previously played for the Guyana U20 team as well.
 
UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
Evansville will play three teams that completed last season in the RPI Top 100. Those opponents are Illinois State (32), Miami (Ohio) (58), and Vanderbilt (96).
 
UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
UE will have a Field of Dreams Uganda game vs. Miami (Ohio) on Sun., Aug. 30. The Aces have a Military Appreciation / Wounded Warrior game with Belmont on Fri., Sept. 11. The annual Multiple Sclerosis match with an alumni/parents weekend is on Sat., Sept. 26. Senior Day festivities are set for Thurs., Oct. 29.
 
HOSTING THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Evansville is hosting the 2015 MVC Women's Soccer Championship this year. The semifinals will take place on Fri., Nov. 6 with the Championship match to take place on Sun., Nov. 8. All matches will be held at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Ind.
 
BRING IT ON BACK
There are high hopes this season for Evansville. The program returns 19 letterwinners (nine starters) from last year's team that finished second in the Missouri Valley Conference and runner-ups in the MVC Tournament.
 
Some of UE's key returners include senior goalkeeper Simone Busby (two time MVC Goalkeeper of the Year), and junior midfielder Bronwyn Boswell (team leader in goals, MVC First Team). Other returning starters include senior midfielder Allie Arguello, junior midfielder Colleen Dierkes, junior defender Emily Richardson, sophomore defender Olivia Schafer, senior forward Kayla Smith and senior defender/midfielder Abby Springer.
 
NEW FACES
Evansville also has seven freshmen additions including defender Morgan Langhammer, midfielder Molly Lear, forward/midfielder Tess Lombard, midfield Paige Niemeier, midfield/forward Jess O'Shaughnessy, forward Sara Osinski and defender/forward Sierra Pagan.
 
For all of the latest information on University of Evansville women's soccer, log on to the sport page on GoPurpleAces.com or follow the program on Twitter via @UEAthleticsWSOC.  For information on giving to UE Athletics or its individual athletics programs, visit the DONATE tab on the top of GoPurpleAces.com.  To purchase tickets for University of Evansville athletics events, log on to GoPurpleAces.com and click on the TICKETS tab on top of the page.