EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Non-conference road matches at Louisville and Indiana, and home non-conference match-ups with reigning ASUN regular-season champion Lipscomb and regional rivals Lindenwood and UT Martin highlight the 2024 non-conference portion of the University of Evansville women's soccer schedule, which was announced on Tuesday by head coach Chris Pfau.
Evansville will play two exhibition matches and six regular-season matches against opponents within a three-hour radius of campus in 2024. Included in that eight-match set, though, are two matches against NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, as well as a match against a reigning conference regular-season champion.
The 2024 season will kick off with an exhibition match at SIUE on Wednesday, August 7, before the Purple Aces will play their lone home exhibition match of the season on Saturday, August 10 against NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant Saint Louis University (5 p.m.). The Billikens went 19-3-2 a season ago, and were nationally-ranked for much of the season.
Evansville will then open the 2024 regular-season at home against reigning ASUN regular-season champion Lipscomb on Thursday, August 15 at 6 p.m. The Bisons went 14-5-1 in 2023, including posting a 10-1-1 conference record to win the ASUN regular-season crown.
Ten days later, UE will hit the road to battle Western Kentucky in a non-conference contest on Sunday, August 25 at 6 p.m. The Hilltoppers finished third in CUSA a year ago, and the two teams battled to a scoreless draw in 2023 in Evansville.
UE will then return home to Arad McCutchan Stadium to host Lindenwood on Thursday, August 29 at 6 p.m. before embarking on a grueling two-match road trip. Evansville will first travel east to Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville for a 6 p.m. central match-up on Sunday, September 1. Then, UE will travel north four days later to renew its rivalry with 2023 NCAA Tournament participant Indiana on Thursday, September 5 (7 p.m. central start).
The non-conference portion of UE's schedule will wrap up on Thursday, September 12 at 6 p.m. with a non-conference contest with Ohio Valley Conference member UT Martin. The match will be UE's "Senior Day," as UE will honor its senior class that night. Evansville will then kick off Missouri Valley Conference play on the road on Thursday, September 19 with a 6:30 p.m. contest against Belmont.
"We feel like this schedule will definitely prepare us for Missouri Valley Conference play," said Pfau. "There is a good mix of teams in this year's schedule that play a variety of different ways, so it will be good preparation for Valley play."
UE will square off with Murray State on Sunday, September 22 at 1 p.m. in the Purple Aces' first home MVC contest of the year. The Murray State match will be part of "Alumni Weekend" for the UE program, as Evansville will welcome back alums from various points in the program's history that day. The Purple Aces will also be out for revenge for last year's 1-0 MVC Tournament loss suffered at the hands of the Racers in the 2023 Valley Tournament.
The month of September will conclude with UE's final MVC regular-season contest at Missouri State on Thursday, September 26, as the Bears will be playing their final season in the Valley this year. UE, Missouri State and Illinois State are the only conference members to have played every season of MVC women's soccer since its inception in 1996.
October opens with a tough two-match homestand on Thursday, October 3 and Sunday, October 6 against UNI (6 p.m.) and reigning MVC regular-season champion Drake (1 p.m.). The Purple Aces will then hit the road for a match at UIC on Thursday, October 10 before battling 2023 MVC Tournament champion Valparaiso on Sunday, October 13 at 1 p.m. in Valparaiso, Indiana.
UE concludes the regular-season with two of its final three matches at home, with home contests against Illinois State (Thursday, October 17 – 6 p.m.) and Southern Illinois (Sunday, October 27 – 12 p.m.) sandwiched around a road trip to Indiana State (Sunday, October 20 – 1 p.m. central). The 2024 MVC Tournament will kick off on Halloween with first-round matches, and continue with quarterfinal matches on November 3, semifinal matches on November 7, and the MVC Tournament final on Sunday, November 10.
The Purple Aces return 21 players from last season's squad which advanced to the MVC Tournament quarterfinals, led by reigning second-team all-MVC defender Rachel Rosborough (Mt. Brydges, Ontario/Strathroy District C.I.). Season tickets for the 2024 season are currently available from the UE Athletic Ticket Office by contacting Logan Belz by phone at 812-488-2623. Adult season tickets begin at $50, with youth season tickets available for $20.
2024 UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE WOMEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE
Wednesday, August 7 at SIUE (EXH) 6 PM
Saturday, August 10 SAINT LOUIS (EXH) 5 PM
Thursday, August 15 LIPSCOMB 6 PM
Sunday, August 25 at Western Kentucky 6 PM
Thursday, August 29 LINDENWOOD 6 PM
Sunday, September 1 at Louisville 6 PM
Thursday, September 5 at Indiana 7 PM
Thursday, September 12 UT MARTIN 6 PM
Thursday, September 19 at Belmont * 6:30 PM
Sunday, September 22 MURRAY STATE * 1 PM
Thursday, September 26 at Missouri State * 6 PM
Thursday, October 3 UNI * 6 PM
Sunday, October 6 DRAKE * 1 PM
Thursday, October 10 at UIC * TBA
Sunday, October 13 at Valparaiso * 1 PM
Thursday, October 17 ILLINOIS STATE * 6 PM
Sunday, October 20 at Indiana State * 1 PM
Sunday, October 27 SOUTHERN ILLINOIS * 12 PM
October 31 – November 10 MVC TOURNAMENT TBA
