EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The defending MVC champion University of Evansville men's soccer team will kick-off the 2025 regular season on Thursday night, as the Purple Aces play host to the Bellarmine Knights. Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
Evansville enters the 2025 season on the heels of the program's first MVC championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 1996. However, this year's edition of the Purple Aces will feature a different look, with 21 new faces joining the squad. Despite returning only five of 35 goals scored from a season ago, the Aces' back line is loaded with experience, with Nacho Diaz-Caneja (Coruña, Spain), Martin Wurschmidt (Stavern, Norway/Thor Heyerdahl VGS), Nacho Garcia (Zaragoza, Spain/UNIR) and Nalu Wagner (Leipzig, Germany/Sportschule Halle) returning a combined 4,730 minutes from last season. Evansville also returns steady goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove), who started all 21 matches in goal as a freshman in 2024. Mroz was an MVC All-Freshman Team selection and enters the 2025 campaign as a Preseason All-MVC pick by the league's head coaches.
The 21 new faces on UE's roster include 16 freshmen, two domestic transfers and three international transfers. Senior forward Tancredi Fadda (Monza, Italy/University of Milan) figures to play a big role in the Aces' attack and provides experience to a young group. Fadda is making his second stop in the River City, spending the 2022 season with the Aces before returning to Italy to attend the University of Milan from 2023-24. Fadda battled injuries in his prior season with UE, but still saw action in 11 matches, including three starts.
Evansville will open the season against Bellarmine for the fifth consecutive season, with the two sides holding an even 1-1-2 record across the previous four meetings. UE got the better of the Knights last season, taking a 2-1 win in Louisville.
Thursday night's opener will not be streamed. Live stats are available at GoPurpleAces.com.
