EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After a week off for training, the University of Evansville women's soccer team will return to action on Thursday night, as the Purple Aces will travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri to take on the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks. Because of extreme high temperatures expected in the Cape Girardeau area on Thursday, kick-off for the match is now set for 8 p.m central time. Thursday's match can be seen live on ESPN+.
Evansville will enter Thursday night's contest at 0-0-1 on the young season, after playing Mercer to a 0-0 draw on their home field last Thursday. Senior goalkeeper Myia Danek (Laingsburg, Mich./Laingsburg) recorded a career-high 10 saves in goal for the Purple Aces to post her second career clean sheet as a Purple Ace. For UE, it marked the first season-opening shutout since the 2014 season, when Evansville blanked Austin Peay, 3-0, on the way to an 11-6-3 overall record.
Offensively, freshman forward Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind./Reitz) led the way for the Purple Aces, as she fired a team-high three shots after coming off the bench in the 25th minute. Johnson recorded her first career shot less than two minutes into her first collegiate action, and she helped Evansville turn the tide in a match against a Mercer team which was coming off of a 7-0-3 record at home a season ago.
SEMO, meanwhile, will enter Thursday's match at 1-1-0, after splitting a pair of games against Missouri (L, 4-0) and Grambling State (W, 4-1). In the Redhawks' home-opener against Grambling State on Sunday, four different SEMO players scored, despite the Redhawks firing just five shots on goal and eight shots total. Sophomore forward Cayla Koerner was a driving force behind the win, as she recorded a goal and two assists in the match.
Thursday's match will be the 17th overall meeting between the two sides. Overall, SEMO leads the series, 7-5-4, including holding a 3-2-2 edge in Cape Girardeau following last season's 1-0 victory by the Redhawks, as Alayna Jakul's fifth-minute goal stood up to provide SEMO the final margin of victory.
