EVANSVILLE, Ind. - With plenty on the line, the University of Evansville women's soccer team hosts Illinois State on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. on Senior Day at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
"Right now we are in a position where we need to try and find a result and the girls know that," said Aces' women's soccer head coach Krista McKendree. "So as much as you don't want to think about the conference tournament, obviously we're not in a position where we're completely in it. So for us it is about how do we get a result on Sunday so that we can be in the conference tournament."
The Purple Aces will honor their four seniors before the match on Sunday, recognizing the academic and athletic accomplishments of Molly Lear, Sara Osinski, Sierra Pagan, and Montana Portenier.
"They're the last one right now that's won a championship," said McKendree "I think that's the thing that we try imposing upon at the beginning of the season was that this group still has a chance to win multiple championships in their time here. 'I think from that perspective it is how do we thank them for the four years of work and competitiveness and commitment that they've put into our program, but at the same time knowing that it's not done.We've still got two games and hopefully if we do something in those two games, a tournament game or so to try and help achieve at least another run at a championship."
Evansville is coming-off a midweek road loss to Missouri State on Wednesday evening. Following a scoreless opening half, the Bears scored the lone goal in the match in the 56th minute and held off the Aces in the final 34 minutes to pick up the victory. In goal, sophomore Michalea Till patrolled between the posts, making nine saves, her second-highest total this season.
UE vs. Illinois State (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.): Live Stats |
The Valley on ESPN (ESPN+) |
Illinois State Website
On Sunday, the Aces and Redbirds renew their series for the 28th time with Illinois State holding a 16-8-3 lead all-time in the series. In last season's meeting, Illinois State scored a 3-0 win over Evansville for its third-straight win over the Aces. The last time UE captured a win over Illinois State at Arad McCutchan Stadium was on September 23, 2012 when Evansville gathered a 4-1 triumph. Heading into Sunday's match, the Redbirs are 8-7-2 overall and 3-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference and have won back-to-back matches over Loyola (3-2, OT) and Indiana State (3-1). Offensively, Illinois State is led by Kate Del Fava, who has recorded a team-high five goals in 2018 with two of the five being game-winners. Between the posts, Haley Smith has played and started all 17 matches for the Redbirds, tallying a 1.34 goals-against average and saving 80.2% of shots she's faced.
Sunday's match holds numerous implications for this month's 2018 MVC Championship. With a win, Evansville would secure a bid to championship, while Illinois State battles for seeding and a possible bye in the opening round.
