EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women's soccer team will try to remain unbeaten in Missouri Valley Conference play on Sunday afternoon, as the Purple Aces will host the Belmont Bruins at Arad McCutchan Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. and the match can be seen live on ESPN+.
As the calendar changes to October, only three teams are currently unbeaten in Missouri Valley Conference play – preseason favorite Missouri State (2-0-2), reigning regular-season champion Valparaiso (1-0-2) and Evansville (0-0-4). Evansville pushed its unbeaten streak to five matches in dramatic fashion on Thursday night, as junior forward Ryleigh Anslinger (Evansville, Ind./Memorial) scored in the 86th minute to help the Purple Aces earn a 1-1 draw at Southern Illinois. UE (0-3-7 overall, 0-0-4 MVC) has played five-straight draws for the first time in program history, and UE's seven ties overall are tied for the most in program history.
Defensively, Evansville will enter Sunday's match ranked third in the Valley in goals-against average at 0.90. The UE goalkeeping corps of senior Myia Danek (Laingsburg, Mich./Laingsburg), fifth-year Georgia Katsonouri (Paphos, Cyprus) and freshman Elke Travis (Henderson, Nev./Faith Lutheran) have combined to post a .836 save percentage, which entered the weekend ranked 44th nationally.
Belmont will bring a 1-6-5 overall record and 0-1-3 MVC record into Sunday's contest. The Bruins are anchored defensively by graduate goalkeeper Sarah Doyle, a third team all-MVC selection a year ago. Doyle currently ranks fifth in NCAA Division I women's soccer in total saves with 76, while ranking 11th overall in saves per game at 6.33. Senior forward Maci Pekmezian leads the Belmont offense with seven total points, as she has accounted for three of Belmont's six goals on the season.
All-time, Evansville leads the series against Belmont, 7-4-1, including holding a 6-0-1 advantage in matches played in Evansville. In fact, UE has outscored Belmont by a total of 19-1 in the seven all-time meetings in Evansville.
