The Purple Aces led the match in shots for the second straight game
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Evansville women’s soccer team bounced back from a tough loss on Thursday with a 1-1 tie of the Drake Bulldogs.
The Purple Aces picked up another point on Saturday afternoon as junior forward Amy Velazquez (Avon, Ind. / Avon HS) scored the tying goal in the 83rd minute. The goal was Velazquez second of the year as she now becomes the second UE player with multiple goals on the season. Senior forward Hailey Autenrieb (Cincinnati / Seton HS) also added her third assist of 2024 to lead Evansville in points with five.
“We’ve been flat the last two games, so a result today was important,” said Head Coach Chris Pfau. “We’re still a young team in terms of how to win these games and playing with emotions. I thought Murray State and Missouri State were two of our better games and we got points out of that.
“Unfortunately, we kind of hit the wall against UNI. This wasn’t a great game for us but I told the team if we turn the corner we have to get points when we’re not at our best and it’s ugly. And I thought we did that today.
“Today we weren’t good, but we gutted it out. Myia [Danek] played absolutely brilliantly in goal and kept us in the game. And we got that goal in the end to tie and get a point to keep us in the running for the tournament.”
It was a slow start to Sunday’s match for the Aces as they didn’t connect on their first shot until the 13th minute. But Velazquez showed early that she’d be an offensive force for UE with the first shot for the team. Evansville put together a brief run of shots with three shots in five minutes. Drake responded with back-to-back shots right after. But the Aces retook control, forcing a save from the Bulldogs goalkeeper in the 24th minute.
Both teams fought for possession in the middle of the field until Drake had a three-shot run in the final 10 minutes of the match. UE goalkeeper Myia Danek (Laingsburg, Mich. / Laingsburg HS) made two saves to make it a 0-0 tie heading into the second half. But Evansville would be caught off guard at the start of the second as a Bulldog forward got one pass Danek into the right side of the net in the 46th minute.
While the Bulldogs were able to get off another shot a minute later, the Aces quickly returned to their offensive end. UE pushed the pace with four straight shots over 18 minutes midway through the half. Drake snuck in another shot before Evansville returned to the attack with shots from freshman forward Taylor Wehrer (Las Vegas / Desert Oasis HS) and junior forward Chrysta Vasquez (Las Vegas / Coronado HS).
It would be Velazquez though who found the back of the net for the Aces. In the 83rd minute Velazquez took the ball from a Bulldog defender up into the 12. She then passed over to Autenrieb on the right side of the penalty box, who quickly returned it to Velazquez at the six. Velazquez struck the ball with her right foot and blew it past Drake’s goalkeeper into the center of the net to tie the match up with only seven minutes left.
UE’s defense held strong in the match’s waning minutes, not allowing the Bulldogs another shot. Evansville picked up a point in the MVC standings for three points in conference action. Velazquez led the Aces on offense with three shots in 60 minutes of action. Sophomores Ella Hamner (Evansville, Ind. / Memorial HS) and Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) were the only other UE players with multiple shots taking two each.
Evansville will return to action on Thursday, October 10th at UIC. Kick-off from Chicago is set for 6 p.m.
