EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer finishes their home season on Wednesday, November 2, as they host St. Thomas University at Strassweg Field for a 2pm kickoff. The Screaming Eagles are currently 1-11-3, 1-4-1 Summit League, and finish their season on the road in Tulsa, Oklahoma to take on Oral Roberts University on November 5 at 1pm.
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USI and Western Illinois University fought to a tough 1-1 draw on October 26. Both defenses were stellar in the first half. The Eagles had a chance to take advantage of a hand ball inside the box which sent the Leathernecks down to 10 men. The Eagles weren’t able to convert on the penalty. Western Illinois then went down and took the lead. USI was able to equalize as sophomore Mical Hardtman (Hamilton Parrish, Bermuda) put a ball from a corner to the top of the box where graduate Nick Faddis (St. Louis, Missouri) controlled it and curled a beautiful ball into the bottom left-hand corner. USI had multiple chances to win the match, but the Western Illinois defense kept the Eagles at bay.
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The Eagles have been trying to find their rhythm up front all year long. Coming into the season the man watch up front was junior Zach Barton (St. Louis, Missouri). Barton came into the season with 20 career goals and sat tied for 10th all-time at USI and was looking to climb the rankings. He has just one goal on the year but is leading the team in shots and shots on goal with 21 and 13. Newcomer Faddis is leading the team in goals with three while senior Ryan Nevins (St. Peters, Missouri) and sophomore Sam Benoist (Foristell, Missouri) each have two.
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USI Head Coach Mat Santoro has been very consistent with his starting lineups this season. Santoro has eight outfield players that have double digit starts this season and four of those have started every game they have played. Faddis and senior Colten Walsh (St. Louis, Missouri) have started all 15 games while Walsh has the most minutes played with 1249. Freshmen Will Kirchhofer (Fishers, Indiana) and Ednilson Voiles (Jeremie, Haiti) are the other two who have started every game they have played, both have played and started in 14 games. Kirchhofer missed the Western Illinois match due to suspension after receiving a double yellow card against Lindenwood University while Voiles missed the match with Chicago State University.
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Junior goalkeeper Alec Meissner (St. Charles, Missouri) has been the main man in net for the Ealges. Meissner has started 14 out of the teams 15 games. Meissner has allowed 32 goals this season while making 64 saves and has faced 205 shots. Meissner was the man in net when USI has their lone clean sheet of the season at the University of Evansville. The Eagle’s defense has allowed two or less goals in 10 out of the 15 matches. This has come from a very consistent backline of Walsh, junior Travis Sides (Evansville, Indiana), and sophomore Damian McGregor-Wickham (Toronto, Canada). The USI defense has also seen starts from Hardtman, sophomore Aevar Ofjord (Grindavik, Iceland), senior Luke Lindsay (Plymouth, Minnesota), and junior Marky Lara (Evansville, Indiana).
