EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The home season will kick off in big fashion on Sunday night for the University of Evansville women's soccer team, as the Purple Aces will host undefeated Big Ten member Indiana University at Arad McCutchan Stadium. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.
Sunday's match will feature various storylines. Spearheaded by redshirt freshman forward Paige Radel, Sunday's match will be dubbed "Kicking For A Cause," as the UE squad is partnering with the non-profit group Samaritan's Feet to try and raise funds to purchase shoes for local area students. As part of Sunday's initiative, fans will have the ability to donate $25 to help supply a local student with a pair of socks and shoes (donations can also be made on-line at
https://samaritansfeet.org/paigeradel). The UE players will be wearing "Kicking For A Cause" shirts during warmups to help spread awareness for the cause, as Radel has a goal to raise $25,000 over the course of the 2023-24 school year to try and help supply 1,000 pairs of shoes for students in the Evansville area.
On the field, Evansville and Indiana will meet in a battle of unbeaten teams which have taken two different paths to remain unbeaten. Evansville will enter Sunday night's match at 0-0-2 on the year, after posting back-to-back scoreless draws at Mercer and Southeast Missouri State to open the season. It is the first time since 2001 in which UE has opened the year with consecutive shutouts.
Indiana, meanwhile, is 2-0-1 so far in 2023, with victories over Illinois State (3-1) and Morehead State (3-0) and a tie against Virginia Tech (0-0). The Hoosiers have scored six goals from five different players, with graduate student Paige Webber leading the way with two goals and an assist.
Sunday's match will also feature a distinct Evansville flavor, as it will feature five players from the city. Evansville's roster features four local players, with Evansville Memorial grads Ella Hamner and Ryleigh Anslinger teaming with former Evansville North standout Kaylee Woosley and Reitz High School star Taylor Johnson. IU's roster also features former Evansville Memorial standout Kennedy Neighbors. Hamner and Neighbors helped Evansville Memorial to a Class 2A state title last year as co-Evansville Courier & Press Metro Player of the Year honorees.
Anslinger also played high school soccer alongside Hamner and Neighbors at Memorial, and actually began her collegiate career at IU before transferring to UE. She has been slowed this season while recovering from an injury suffered in a summer league match and has not yet appeared this year for UE.
Sunday's match will mark the first time these two sides have met since August 19, 2011, when UE and IU battled to a 2-2 draw in Bloomington. Overall, Indiana leads the all-time series 5-1-1, but holds just a 2-1 advantage in matches played in Evansville, with two of the three matches being decided by a single goal.
Sunday's match can be seen live on ESPN+.
