EVANSVILLE, Ind.– University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer wins its first Ohio Valley Conference contest of the season, 4-1, against Houston Christian University at Strassweg Field Thursday night.
This decisive win marked the team’s largest positive goal differential since a 6-0 victory over Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2019. Additionally, the four goals scored were the most for USI since the 2023 season finale against Lindenwood University.
USI came out of the gate on fire, dominating the offensive half of the field. The Eagles opened the scoring in the 20th minute of the match, as freshman Tony Murphy connected with freshman Edin Cvorovic for the first goal of the game and Cvorovic’s first of his career.
The Eagles kept the pressure on the Huskies, as junior Will Kirchhofer gathered the ball at midfield, finding sophomore Ahiro Nakamae up the sidelines, who then found Murphy in the box for his second goal of the season. USI led 2-0 for the first time this season.
USI was not done for the first 45, freshman Gian Colassaco found freshman Nolan Stevens open outside of the box for the final score of the half. USI went into the break up 3-0, despite being behind in total shots, nine to seven.
In the first half, Southern Indiana tallied five shots on goal compared to Houston Christian’s four. Freshman Jacob English made four impressive saves, including a diving grab in the 36th minute, helping preserve USI’s lead.
The second half saw the Houston Christian defense tighten, limiting USI’s opportunities. The Eagles capitalized on a 65th-minute free kick from Cvorovic, who found junior Pablo Juan open in the box for a fourth team goal, putting them up 4-0.
The Huskies battle back late, sneaking one into the net at 70:50 to cut the lead to three. HCU had multiple opportunities late in the game, but failed to capitalize. English made some miraculous saves late in the match, keeping Houston Christian from gaining momentum.
For the game, USI was outshot 24-10 and 8-6 on goal despite the season high in goals scored. Nine different Eagles recorded shots, with five on goal, a season high in both. The Huskies were able to force 10 corner kicks compared to the Eagles’ four. English tallied seven saves on the night, three in the second half, compared to the two by HCU goalkeepers.
