EVANSVILLE - Sophomore Nacho Diaz continued his hot start to his collegiate career, scoring twice as the University of Evansville men's soccer team glided past IUPUI, 3-1, on Sunday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville.
After scoring his first collegiate goal on Thursday night's 2-2 draw at Bellarmine, Diaz added two more to his season tally against the Jaguars. Senior midfielder and fellow Spaniard Carlos Barcia scored his first of the season in the 16th as all five goals this season have been scored by student-athletes from Spain. In goal, graduate keeper Alex Vidizzoni made four saves, allowing just one goal in his first win with the Aces.
Evansville's attack did not take long to get revved-up with the Aces recording a pair of shots inside the match's first eight minutes. In the 16th minute, UE opened the scoring as senior Nkosi Graham stole the ball from a defender and quickly sent a skimming ball across the face of goal to Barcia, who slotted it past the keeper to give Evansville the early 1-0 lead. 10 minutes later, sophomore Jose Vivas whipped a corner into the box that Diaz headed into the upper 90 to double Evansville's advantage.
The Aces delivered their third and final goal of the opening 45 minutes off of the boot of Diaz in spectacular fashion. With a free kick from 25-plus yards out, Diaz stuck the ball and looped it over the wall, going for goal and finding it in the 43rd minute for his second of the night.
It was nearly four for Evansville when Diaz again met a cross and sent it across the box to redshirt freshman Porter Pomykal whose header went off the post and deflected out. IUPUI pulled one back in the 53rd minute with a header that popped over Vidizzoni's head and snuck in the side to cut UE's advantage to 3-1. Evansville out-shot the Jaguars, 16-9, in the match with a nine-to-five advantage on shots on-goal as the Aces captured the 3-1 home win over IUPUI.
Evansville goes back on the road for its next two contests, heading to Dayton, Ohio to face Incarnate Word on Friday and host Dayton on Sunday afternoon.
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