UE men’s soccer goes for fifth straight win at Lindenwood

The Purple Aces continued their perfect start to the season on Wednesday night with a 1-0 win over Eastern Illinois. UE took 29 shots throughout the match but only found the back of the net once, as EIU’s goalkeeper kept the Panthers in the game. But Evansville kept the ball far away from its own goal for its fourth straight victory. The 29 shots that the Aces took on Wednesday night against Eastern Illinois was the most by a UE men’s soccer team since the 2017 season. In 2017 Evansville set a program record for shots against Anderson with 46 in 90 minutes.

Lindenwood comes into Friday’s match still searching for its first win of the season. The Lions return home after having their first road loss to Wright State. Lindenwood surrendered four unanswered goals after scoring the first goal of the match in the 4-1 loss. The Lions are led by two different players, senior midfielder Josh Francombe and freshman defender Anel Kafedzic with a goal apiece.

UE now becomes one of only 17 teams across Division I with a 100% win-loss-tied percentage. Evansville is also alone atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings as the only team with four wins on the year. The Aces also lead the MVC in save percentage (85.7%), shots per game (16), shots on goal per game (7.5), and team goals against average (0.5). UE is now Top 10 in the nation in goal differential coming in at number 10.

With his second clean sheet of the season, freshman goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove HS) now leads the Missouri Valley Conference in shutouts. Mroz also leads the conference in goalkeeper minutes played with 360 minutes so far. Along with leading two categories, Mroz is second in the conference in several statistical categories including goals against average (0.500) and save percentage (85.7%).