EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's soccer team will travel north to Chicago, Illinois on Thursday night to take on Missouri Valley Conference newcomer UIC. The Purple Aces and Flames will kick-off at 6:05 p.m. at Flames Field in a match that can be seen live on ESPN+.
The match-up will mark the first-ever meeting between the two women's soccer programs. It will also be a key match standings-wise for both teams, with the MVC Tournament coming up in three weeks. UIC currently sits in a four-team tie for sixth-place in the Valley standings with five points (1-5-4 overall, 1-1-2 MVC). Evansville, meanwhile, sits in tenth place with two points (1-6-4 overall, 0-3-2), but a win on Thursday would tie the two sides in the standings, with the potential to move UE into eighth in the league standings. Only the top eight teams will advance on to the conference tournament beginning on October 27.
Evansville will be trying to bounce back from a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Southern Illinois on Sunday, in which the Salukis scored in the 89th minute to earn the victory. UE fifth-year forward Emily Ormson (Folsom, Calif./Vista del Lago) scored the Aces' lone goal on the afternoon to move into a tie for the league-lead in goals with four. Ormson also leads all of Division I college soccer (both men's and women's) in shot accuracy this year, as she has put 80.8 percent of her shots on target this year (21 of 26).
UIC, meanwhile, played to a 1-1 draw at Murray State on Sunday. Freshman midfielder Sophia Jaime scored in the 82nd minute to help the Flames earn a point on the road against the Racers. Five different Flames have scored one goal each this year, as no UIC player has scored multiple goals this year. Redshirt sophomore Lauren Keiser has posted a 1.13 goals-against average in nine matches played to lead the way in goal for the Flames.
