BOWLING GREEN, Ohio. – In what was a rematch of last season’s MVC Tournament final, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team made a statement, kicking off MVC play with a decisive 3-0 win over Bowling Green on Friday night.
Three different Aces tallied goals, as Pablo Calvete (Ponferrada, Spain/UNIR) and Armon Haghighat (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley CC) scored their first goals as Aces and Andres Escudero (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain/IES Joan Miro) scored for the sixth time in the last five matches. Chase Ricker (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) also had a big night offensively, becoming the first Evansville player with multiple assists in a match this season with two.
Evansville jumped ahead early, scoring in the 10th minute. After earning a corner kick, Ricker delivered a ball to the far post, where Calvete was waiting to deliver the night’s first goal.
The score remained 1-0 for most of the first half, but Evansville was able to add on just before halftime. In the 43rd minute, Nate Roberts (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) started an attack with a run before sending a through ball to Ricker, who put a left-footed cross to the far post for Haghighat, where he buried a shot into the top right corner to extend the lead.
Evansville continued to control things in the second half, maintaining their two-goal lead through the first 35 minutes of the period. Escudero nearly extended the lead in the 74th minute off a perfect service from Devin Shepherd (Denver, Colo./Arapahoe), but his shot went off the crossbar.
However, Escudero was able to strike six minutes later, converting on another perfect service, this time from Nacho Diaz-Caneja (Coruña, Spain/Oregon State), to put an exclamation point on the night. With the goal, Escudero ties the national lead for goals by a freshman this season with six, all of which have come in the last five matches.
“It was a great result, winning 3-0 to start conference away from home in a place that’s tough to play,” said Head Coach Robbe Tarver. “A lot of respect for Bowling Green. We just scored at the right moments.”
“We stayed connected defensively, and we are really happy to be 1-0 in conference play.”
Evansville led in shots at 12-11, as well as a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal. Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) made one save in goal, while the Evansville defense posted their third shutout of the season.
With the win, Evansville improves to 3-2-5 overall and 1-0 in MVC play for the first time since 2022. The Aces will be back in action next Saturday, hosting Western Michigan at Arad McCutchan Stadium. Kick-off is set for 6 PM.
