EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer announced their 2023 schedule today, including its first Ohio Valley Conference slate of games. The Screaming Eagles open their season at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on August 24 in Indianapolis, Indiana, while beginning the home calendar August 27 by hosting Mercer University at Strassweg Field.
This fall marks the inaugural season of men’s soccer in the OVC. The OVC announced in March that men’s soccer would become the conference’s 19th-sponsored sport with four full-time members and four affiliated members.
The 2023 USI home schedule is a nine-game schedule that includes a four-match homestand in September. The homestand includes cross-town rival University of Evansville (September 9), Belmont University (September 12), former GLVC-rival Northern Kentucky University (September 19), and the OVC-opener versus Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (September 28).
Prior to the four-match homestand, USI is on the road to play at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (September 1) and Akron University (September 4). The Eagles, following the four-match homestand, travel to play OVC contests at Lindenwood University (October 1), Houston Christian University (October 5), and University of Incarnate Word (October 8).
USI returns to the friendly surroundings of Strassweg Field for three-straight during the middle of October. The Eagles host OVC matches against Chicago State University (October 12), Liberty University (October 15), and Eastern Illinois University (October 19) during the final homestand of the year.
The road schedule concludes with SIUE (October 22) and EIU (October 26) before the Eagles conclude the 2023 regular season with Lindenwood University (October 29).
The OVC Men’s Soccer Championship will take place November 5, 8 and 11 in Edwardsville, Illinois, at SIUE’s Ralph Korte Stadium.
The Eagles finished 2022 with a 2-12-3 record and a 2-5-1 record in the Summit League. USI, which was 1-3-1 against OVC teams last year, would have earned a trip to the Summit post-season tournament had it be eligible in its return to NCAA Division I play last falls.
The Eagles are under the direction of Head Coach Mat Santoro, who enters his 15th season with the program and boasts a career record of 111-108-27.
