EVANSVILLE, Ind. - After a couple weeks of preseason training, the University of Evansville men's soccer team opens its fall schedule with a taste of Louisville in a pair of exhibition contests this weekend featuring two sides from Derby City.
The Purple Aces open their exhibition slate on Saturday at 4 p.m. on the road against NCAA College Cup quarterfinalist and preseason No. 6 Louisville. Sunday features Evansville's second and final exhibition match of the fall as UE plays host to Bellarmine at 2:20 p.m. at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
Saturday's trip to Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium is the Aces first competition against Louisville since Evansville faced a then-11th-ranked Cardinals squad, falling 3-0 on October 21, 2014. In regular season competition, Louisville owns an 11-2 advantage in the overall series with the Aces.
UE and Bellarmine have met four times during the regular season with the two sides splitting those four matchups. Evansville and the Knights last met in the regular season in 1977 as the Aces grabbed a 6-1 victory over BU.
Sunday's match is the Aces' "Welcome Back" game and "All Aboard Game #1". UE welcomes back students and invites area school children to attend Sunday's men's and women's soccer doubleheader who can enjoy giveaways, a free bounce house, and Pro Kick inflatable soccer game. Aces student-athletes and administration took time Friday to pass out All Aboard cards to local elementary schools that gives them free admission to four Aces' home events, including Sunday's exhibition match against Bellarmine.
"It's always great during welcome week. All the freshman will be at the match, most likely, as they have things going on (at the stadium)," said Aces head men's soccer coach Marshall Ray. "Our university does a great job of helping us promote our program and athletic department, so they've worked that into their welcome week schedule. It's a good chance for everybody to kind of see what our athletic department's like, our soccer programs are like, and our guys love playing on our home field. It's a great field, it's a great stadium, and most importantly it's a great atmosphere."
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UE at No. 6 Louisville (Exhibition) (Saturday, 4 p.m.):  Live Stats |Â
Louisville Website
UE vs. Bellarmine (Sunday, 2:30 p.m.):  Live Stats |Â
Bellarmine Website
Evansville heads into the 2018 season following a successful 2017 that saw the Aces amass an 11-8-2 overall record. The Aces' double-digit win total marked the first time since the 1995 and 1996 seasons that UE had achieved ten or more wins in back-to-back seasons after UE notched 10 wins in 2016. Along with the 11 wins, Evansville also advance to the semifinals of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the second-straight season for the first time since 1995 and 1996.
In 2018, the Aces return seven starters and 14 total letterwinners, including Preseason all-MVC selection Simon Waever. Along with Waever, senior Zac Blaydes highlights the group of returning starters. A native of Midway, Ky., Blaydes has recorded 21 assists in his career. putting him just two assists away from entering the top 10 in program history in career assists. In all, the Aces return 12,593 minutes of in-match experience from last season with a tough schedule ahead.
Including exhibitions, four of Evansville's non-conference opponents finished 2017 in the top 50 in RPI. Indiana, UE's opponent at Arad McCutchan Stadium on September 21, was the national runner-up and ended 2017 in fourth in RPI. Evansville's opponent on Saturday, Louisville, who advanced to the quarterfinals of last season's 2017 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, finished eighth in the final RPI rankings. Also on the Aces' 2018 schedule are Butler (12th) and Kentucky (47th) who were ranked in the top 50 of the final RPI rankings.
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