Two goals, with one in the waning minutes of the match, made for an exciting conclusion to the Purple Aces season. Senior forward Kai Phillip and freshman winger Auden Engen Vik scored for UE in the 23rd and 89th minute respectively. Evansville had three separate players record assists on the two goals including midfielder Carlos Barcia, midfielder Jose Vivas, and defender Tobias Bak.
“We haven’t been leading at half very much this season. But I thought we played pretty well and got a nice goal early,” said Head Coach Robbe Tarver following the match. “With the way the results were in other games, we knew Belmont was going to come out and press to take the game to us to advance to the tournament.
“Those first 15 minutes of the second half they put us under a lot of pressure, and it ended up with a goal. But we couldn’t have asked more from our guys to get us back into the game and make it 2-2. It was a good game overall, but unfortunately, the results didn’t go our way in other matches. And that’s on us for not taking care of business earlier in the season,”.
The Aces found the net early and often in the Music City on a chilly night. Engen Vik recorded the team’s first shot in the second minute. UE’s aggressive offensive attack netted the first goal in the 23rd minute from Phillip. Bak made a cross through the penalty box to Phillip who was right in front of the goal on the right side. Phillip was able to tap the ball past Belmont’s goalkeeper with his right foot into the center of the net. Evansville kept the one-goal lead through the first 45 minutes, not getting another opportunity in the half.
To start the second half, the Aces played a more conservative game looking to keep the ball away from the Bruins with the slim lead. But Belmont was able to capitalize in the 54th minute after a flurry of shots at UE goalkeeper Jacob Madden to make it a 1-1 game. Evansville continued to struggle to contain the Bruins as the third goal of the match was Belmont’s in the 85th minute. Staring down a loss that would take them out of Missouri Valley Conference Tournament contention, the Aces returned to its high-volume offense.
In the final 10 minutes of the match, UE had five shot attempts with two going on net. One of those included the game-tying goal from Engen Vik in the 89th minute. With a large group of players in the top of the penalty area, Barcia took advantage of a little space to find Engen Vik in front of the middle of the net. Challenging the Bruins keeper, Engen Vik won with a sliding right-footed shot to the bottom left corner.
