NASHVILLE – In the final match of the regular season, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team suffered their first MVC loss of the campaign, falling to Belmont by a score of 2-1. Despite the loss, Evansville enters the MVC Tournament with the number one seed for the first time in program history and will host the winner of UIC and Belmont next Wednesday at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
Neither team was able to put a shot on goal in the opening stages of action, with the Aces tallying one shot and the Bruins putting up two.
In the 28th minute of action, star freshman Andres Escudero (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain/IES Joan Miro) created a scoring chance on his own, taking a thrown in near the midfield line and battling Belmont defenders to make a long run. Just outside the penalty area, Escudero took a left-footed shot that went past the Belmont keeper, off the crossbar and into the back of the net. The goal was Escudero’s ninth of the season, the most by a UE freshman since MVC Freshman of the Year Nacho Diaz Barragan scored nine in 2022, and gave the Aces a 1-0 lead.
Escudero nearly extended the lead in the 34th minute with another good scoring chance, but his shot was saved.
Belmont was able to find the equalizer before halftime, scoring in the 39th minute to make it a 1-1 game heading into halftime.
Escudero threatened to score once again in the 69th minute, hitting the post with a shot, but was left empty-handed. Less than a minute later, Belmont flipped the script, finding the back of the net to take their first lead of the night.
For the final 20 minutes, Evansville fought to find the equalizer, including Escudero nearly scoring once again with another shot off the post. However, the Aces were unable to find the tying goal as the Bruins earned a 2-1 win.
“I think we have put together a lot of games where we have managed moments well, and I think tonight when we went up 1-0, we didn’t do that quite as well,” said Head Coach Robbe Tarver. “I think we created a decent amount to try and equalize the game, we hit the post twice, but Belmont is a good team and they are really tough to beat at home.”
“At the end of the day, we are pretty healthy going into the tournament, we have the number one seed, we have a bye to prepare, and we get to host. There are a lot of positives that we have from the work we have put in throughout the season.”
“I think it is a good lesson for us to learn that every moment of a game matters, and if you switch off, you are going to get punished. We’ll flush it, we will be ready for next Wednesday and ready to go.”
With the loss, Evansville moves to 6-4-8 overall with a 3-1-3 mark in MVC play. The Purple Aces earned a share of the MVC regular season title and will serve as the number one seed in the conference tournament, earning a bye to the semifinal round. Kick-off for Wednesday’s tournament match at Arad McCutchan Stadium is set for 6 PM.
