Mroz named MVC Defender of the Week ahead of Louisville matchup

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The freshman goalkeeper is the first defensive player of the week for the Purple Aces this season
 
ST LOUIS — Freshman goalkeeper Michal Mroz picked up his first honor from the Missouri Valley Conference on Tuesday afternoon.
After setting a career-high in saves on Saturday, goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove HS) was named the MVC Defender of the Week by Missouri Valley Conference staff. In a 3-1 win over the UIC Flames, Mroz made eight saves resetting his career-high number by two. Mroz made the bulk of his saves in the final six minutes of the match, turning aside four shots on goal to keep the Aces victory intact.

With eight saves on Saturday Mroz raised his save percentage to 72.6% and brought his saves per game average to 3.75. Mroz now leads the Valley in saves per game while being second in the conference in total saves with 45 across 12 games and 990 minutes in net.

The Aces will wrap up the non-conference portion of their schedule on Wednesday evening with a trip to Louisville to face the Cardinals. Last season UE dropped a close match to Louisville at home that was scoreless for 78 minutes. Evansville currently leads the series against the Cardinals at 10-6-0 but are looking for the teams first win since 2001.

Louisville comes into Wednesday’s match with a 5-4-3 record. The Cardinals are coming off a close loss to No. 12 Clemson on Friday as Louisville is still looking for its first win in ACC action. The Cardinals are led on the pitch by senior forward Gage Guerra with six goals and two assists in 11 matches this season. Guerra is six points ahead of Louisville’s other offensive leaders midfielder Leon Kondic, midfielder Sander Roed, and forward Ethan Subachan who all have eight points.

Senior forward Edward Mendy (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley West HS) began a goal scoring streak on Saturday with his second straight tally. In the 61st minute of the Aces 3-1 win over UIC, Mendy found himself alone with the ball on the right side and worked around two Flames defenders and buried his second goal of the year into the top left corner of the net from the seven. Mendy was also the secondary assist on senior forward Nacho Diaz Barragan’s (Almeria, Spain) game-winning goal in the 48th minute for five points on the season in only two games.

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