EVANSVILLE - Recording plenty of opportunities, the University of Evansville men's soccer team dropped its home opener on Tuesday, 2-0, to MVC foe Loyola at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

"I'm very proud of our guys this evening and the effort they put forth," said Aces head men's soccer coach Marshall Ray. "We were unfortunate to concede the second goal the way that we did and we've got to get better at starting matches, but I can't fault the guys for the effort they put in tonight. At times we played some good football and kept the ball moving, creating scoring opportunities."

An early goal from the Ramblers coming in the 11th minute did not deter Evansville's efforts on the night. In all, the Aces out-shot the Ramblers, 10-7, including a 7-2 advantage on shots in the first half. Evansville responded to Loyola's opening goal with a handful of opportunities, including a great chance on a volley by Nkosi Graham that was deflected by Loyola keeper Simon Jillson and tipped over the bar in the 12th minute.

Evansville forced two more saves from Jillson in the first half, coming in the 20th and 23rd minutes on shots by junior Evan Dekker and redshirt sophomore Jakub Hall. 

In the second half, Loyola emerged from the break as the agressor, eventually adding to its advantage with a 57th-minute goal. The Ramblers increased their lead to 2-0 with a goal by Giann Magno that found the back of the net after Magno lobbed a ball towards goal and found the upper 90 with a looping ball that was just out of the reach of Aces keeper Jacob Madden. The best chance of the second half for the Aces came in the 78th minute as redshirt junior Nicholas Likulia recorded a shot from just inside the box that struck the crossbar. Off the rebound, Hall headed the ball back towards goal, but it was deflected off the head of a Rambler defender and bounced out as the Aces fell to Loyola, 2-0.

Freshman Pablo Guillen led the Aces with three shots, while Hall recorded a pair of shots, putting both on-goal in the loss.

Evansville returns to competition on Sunday night, hitting the road for a 6 PM matchup with Missouri State in Springfield, Mo.
 

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