EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville men's soccer team begins a crucial final two weeks of the regular season on Monday, traveling to Louisville for a non-conference clash with the Cardinals. Kick-off is set for 6 PM CT.
Last Time Out
Evansville remained unbeaten in MVC play on Friday night, playing visiting Bradley to a 1-1 draw at Arad McCutchan Stadium. The Purple Aces honored a nine-member senior class - Hugo Amo, Nacho Diaz-Caneja, Tancredi Fadda, Nacho Garcia, Kobe Grant, Matt Hawkins, Kyle Penders, Nate Roberts, and Nalu Wagner - prior to the match to celebrate Senior Night.
Evansville faced an early deficit, as Bradley struck for the night's first goal in the eighth minute of play.
Aces' keeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) kept the score at 1-0 in the 11
th minute, making a leaping save to deny the Braves.
In the 27
th minute, Andres Escudero (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain/IES Joan Miro) gave Evansville a chance to equalize by drawing a yellow card in the box to earn a penalty kick. Martin Wurschmidt (Stavern, Norway/Thor Heyerdahl VGS) stepped to the spot for the Purple Aces and buried a shot into the top left corner to even the match. With the goal, Wurschmidt improves to 3-for-3 on the season from the penalty spot.
After the match went into halftime tied at one, Evansville worked to generate the go-ahead goal with a shot from Ben Zec (Carmel, Ind. Carmel), and two shots by Tancreddi Fadda (Monza, Italy/University of Milan) in the 50
th, 52
nd and 54
th minutes. Fadda was active again in the 57
th minute, putting a shot on target, while Will Bencic (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East) added a shot on goal of his own in the 59
th minute, but both shots were saved as the match remained tied at one.
Fadda saw another shot saved in the 72
nd minute, while Mroz matched Bradley keeper Drew Berry with a save of his own in the 74
th minute, making an aggressive play on a breakaway to deny the Braves of the go-ahead goal.
The Purple Aces searched for the winner in the final 15 minutes of play, notching nine more shots, including two shots on goal, but the Aces were unable to find the back of the night as the match ended in a draw.
Series History
Monday marks the 18th all-time meeting between Evansville and Louisville. Although the Aces hold a 10-6-1 advantage in the series, the Cardinals have won four of the last five meetings. Evansville earned their first result against Louisville in 23 years last season with a 2-2 draw and are looking for their first win in the series since 2001.
Scouting Louisville
Louisville enters Monday's match with a 5-5-4 record and a 1-5-1 mark in ACC play. The last time out for the Cardinals came last Tuesday, a 1-1 draw against Lipscomb.
Follow Along
Monday's match will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Live stats are available at GoPurpleAces.com.
