The Purple Aces recorded a season-high 29 shots
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Three players matched their career-highs in shots during a match as the University of Evansville men’s soccer team peppered Eastern Illinois in a 1-0 victory.
The Purple Aces brought the offensive firepower on Wednesday night, recording 29 shots with 11 ending up on goal. UE was only able to capitalize on one shot as fifth-year forward Kai Phillip (Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago) scored his first goal of the season. Graduate forward Sami Owusu (Denver, Colo. / Dayton) recorded his second assist on the season while redshirt sophomore midfielder Brayden Doll (Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville HS) recorded his first career assist as an Ace with a deflection to Phillip.
“Any time you win it feels good,” said Head Coach Robbe Tarver following the match. “It’s the exact same amount of wins as last season, so it’s nice to do that in the first four games. You always want to win, but would we expect to be 4-0 after the first four games? I don’t know because things happen.
“Happy to be 4-0. Happy to get the win at home. Happy to grind out a result against a feisty EIU team that caused us some problems. Just glad that we’re 4-0.”
After Eastern Illinois recorded the first shot on goal of the game, Evansville didn’t allow another chance for the Panthers through 88 minutes. The Aces quickly dominated the game, throwing six shots at EIU’s goalkeeper Kyce Toutanji in the first 22 minutes. But UE wasn’t able to find the back of the net in the first half despite close chances from Owusu and senior forward Nacho Diaz Barragan (Almeria, Spain.)
It didn’t take long in the second half though for Evansville to grab the lead. Only four minutes into the second 45, in the goal box Owusu kicked the ball to the side past Toutanji. Owusu’s kick then deflected off of Doll at the top right corner of the goal box to Phillip who launched the ball with his right foot into the left side of the net for the only goal of the match.
The Aces had multiple close chances in the final 25 minutes as Diaz Barragan, senior midfielder Jose Vivas (Teruel, Spain), and redshirt freshman midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi (Guilia, Italy) registered four shots within two minutes of each other. In the final 10 minutes alone, UE took seven shots with two landing on goal. In total Evansville had 29 shots on Wednesday night, the team’s most since a program-high 46 shots against Anderson in 2017.
Phillip, Diaz Barragan, and Vivas matched their career-highs for shots in a game with six each to lead the Aces. Vivas put four of his six shots on goal for a 66.7% shot accuracy through 49 minutes of action. Freshman goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove HS) recorded his second shutout of his young career making one save while seeing six other shots go wide of the net.
UE continues its busy week of action with a road game on Friday. It will be the first of two away matches for Evansville as they travel to another OVC school, Lindenwood. Kick-off for The Aces matchup with the Lions is set for 7 p.m. on September 6th.
