The Purple Aces shot with 60% accuracy on Friday
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – An early lead didn’t last for the University of Evansville men’s soccer team in a 6-1 loss to the Missouri State Bears.
Redshirt freshman midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi (Guilia, Italy) scored his fourth goal of the season at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium in the seventh minute. But six unanswered goals from Missouri State resulted in UE’s first loss since September. Senior midfield Jose Vivas (Teruel, Spain) was the only Evansville player with multiple shots on Friday with two.
“We were beat by the better team tonight,” said Head Coach Robbe Tarver following the match. “We asked the team to press and they punished us for it. We won’t let one game define us. We will be ready for Belmont on Wednesday.”
It was a fast start to Friday’s match as the Bears had the first shot in the third minute. But it was the Aces who struck first as Fedrizzi had the first shot for UE and the team’s only goal. Fedrizzi found his way to the six and shot the ball past Missouri State’s goalkeeper into the middle of the net. Evansville held onto the lead for the next 27 minutes as the Bears racked up eight shots. Missouri State found the equalizer in the 34th minute as the first half ended with the match tied 1-1.
It was all Bears out of the gate in the second half with two goals in the first four minutes. The Aces pressed shortly after with back-to-back shots including a chance for senior forward Nacho Diaz Barragan (Almeria, Spain) in the 63rd minute that was saved in the middle of the net. UE had a third shot on net in the 75th minute from freshman midfielder Håkon Edstrøm (Baerum, Norway) took an attempt from just inside the 18 that was also saved.
Evansville’s final shot came from Vivas in the 76th minute to the left of the penalty area. The shot sailed just high over the crossbar. In the final 10 minutes of the match Missouri State netted three more goals starting in the 82nd minute. The Aces didn’t find the offensive end again as the Bears handed UE its first loss in over a month.
Evansville returns home for its final match of the regular season on Wednesday evening. The Aces welcome Belmont to Arad McCutchan Stadium to try and get a home win against the Bruins for the first time since 2017. Kickoff for UE’s final MVC match of 2024 is set for 7 p.m. on Wednesday November 6th.
