EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After clinching a share of their first regular season conference title in 34 years on Friday, the University of Evansville men's soccer team aims to clinch the outright MVC regular season title on Wednesday as they take on Belmont. With a win or tie, the Purple Aces will end the regular season alone atop the conference table and secure the number one seed for the MVC Tournament. Kick-off from E.S. Rose Park in Nashville is set for 6 PM.
Last Time Out
For the first time since 1991, the University of Evansville men's soccer team clinched a share of a regular season conference title, taking down Northern Illinois by a score of 1-0 on Friday night at Arad McCutchan Stadium. The regular season title is Evansville's first as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) and Nate Roberts (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) carried the day for the Purple Aces, as Mroz notched a season-high 10 saves to post his sixth clean sheet of the season, while Roberts netted the game-winner with his first career goal in the 58
th minute.
Northern Illinois dominated the scoring chances in the first half, tallying 10 shots to the Aces' five, but Mroz held strong with six saves to keep the match scoreless heading into halftime. Mroz made three saves in the first 10 and a half minutes of play before making two more saves in the 25
th minute.
Tancredi Fadda (Monza, Italy/University of Milan) saw the Aces' best scoring chance of the first half in the first 40
th minute, but his shot was saved to keep it 0-0 going to half.
Mroz made two more saves to begin the second half, coming up with stops in the 47
th and 56
th minutes to keep his clean sheet in tact.
In the 58
th minute, Roberts struck for the night's first goal, collecting a blocked shot near the top of the box and firing a shot past a diving keeper and into the bottom right corner.
From there, the Aces defense worked to keep the Huskies off the board, withstanding six NIU shots to post a shutout.
Series History
Monday marks the 17th all-time meeting between Evansville and Belmont. Although the Aces lead the series 9-3-4, four of the last five meetings have ended in draws, including the last two. Evansville last defeated the Bruins in 2022 and are searching for their first win in Nashville since 2016.
Scouting Belmont
Belmont enters Wednesday's match with a 7-2-6 record and a 2-2-2 mark in MVC play, sitting in fifth place in the conference standings with 8 points. The last time out for the Huskies came on Friday, a 5-0 win over Bradley.
Follow Along
Wednesday's match will be streamed live on ESPN+. Live stats are available at GoPurpleAces.com.
