UE men’s soccer returns to Valley play at Bradley

The Purple Aces were shut out for the only time this season on Tuesday night. UE couldn’t put a goal in the back of the net at Xavier as the offense only put up seven shots through 90 minutes in Cincinnati. The last time Evansville did not score a goal was in mid-October of 2023 at Indiana. The Aces offense will look to rebound in their first visit to Peoria since 2021 when they played the Bradley Braves four times within the calendar year.

The Braves come into Saturday’s match celebrating their homecoming weekend and looking to end a four-game losing streak. Bradley is currently 3-5-1 on the season while being 0-2 in conference play. Whichever team wins tomorrow’s match will pick up their first conference win of the season. The Braves are led on offense by sophomore forward Mitch Coughlon with seven points, three goals, and one assist through nine matches. Two other players for Bradley have multiple goals; senior midfielder Francesco Pettinaroli and senior forward Kevin Mejias with two goals each. In total, the Braves have had eight different goal-scorers in nine games.

Freshman goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove) currently leads the Missouri Valley Conference in goalie minutes played as the Aces return to Valley play this weekend. Mroz has played 900 minutes over 10 games a little over midway through the season. 900 minutes in net also ties Mroz nationally for the most minutes in goal with Gonzaga goalkeeper Chema Preciado. Mroz leads the MVC in one other goalkeeping category with 33 total saves for 25th in the country.