EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's soccer team will kick-off the 2023 regular-season on Thursday night, as the Purple Aces will travel to Macon, Georgia to battle the Bears of Mercer. Kick-off is set for 6 p.m. central time.
Evansville returns 22 players from last season's squad, led by 2022 third-team all-Missouri Valley Conference defender Rachel Rosborough (Mt. Brydges, Ontario/Strathroy District CI) and 2023 preseason honorable mention all-conference forward Hailey Autenrieb (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton). UE has also added eight talented freshmen to this year's roster, including local standouts Ella Hamner (Evansville, Ind./Memorial) and Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) and Georgia natives Ashlyn Koutsos (Cumming, Ga./West Forsyth) and A'Liyah Warrick (Mableton, Ga./Campbell). Overall, UE is a young squad, with 16 players in either their first or second year of collegiate soccer, however, those young players have played well beyond their years so far in pre-season.
"I have been really pleased so far with how we have looked in the preseason," said UE head coach Chris Pfau. "We have come in fit and ready to go, and the young players have fit in very well with our system and our program so far. We are excited to get the season started!"
Mercer will provide a tough opening test for UE, as the Bears went 9-4-7 a year ago, including posting a 4-1-4 mark in the Southern Conference, while advancing on to the SoCon Tournament semifinals. The Bears were undefeated on their home turf last year, going 7-0-3 at Mercer's Betts Stadium. Mercer played SEC foe Auburn to a 0-0 tie in its only exhibition match of the 2023 preseason.
Thursday night's opener will not be streamed. Live stats are available at GoPurpleAces.com.
