 In its only tune-up before the regular season, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team scored twice in the first 26 minutes and held on for a 2-1 victory over IUPUI on Sunday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium.
The Aces opened the match aggressive, firing three shots before seven minutes had passed. UE found its breakthrough in the 15thminute as senior Arlick Ntabana received a pass from junior Caleb Williams and buried it in the back of the net to provide the Aces with a 1-0 lead.
“Arlick’s a senior for us and he’s grown into his role and he understands what that is,” said Aces head coach Marshall Ray. “It was a great strike and he put it on frame and I couldn’t be happier for him. He deserves it.”
Less than 11 minutes later, UE found another goal as junior Zac Blaydes slid a sublime through ball to senior Ian McGrath, who timed his run well and found the back of the net to open up a 2-0 advantage for the Aces.
“It took us a while to start finding the midfielder’s feet and trying to find those combinations in the middle, but when we did we started to open them up a little bit,” said Ray. “It was a good run from deep from McGrath and Blaydes was able to play him a good ball through and he was cool on the finish.”
The Aces put two more shots on goal in the second half, but could not find a third goal. In the final seconds of the contest,IUPUIÂ pulled one back to get back within a goal with just 39 second remaining in the game, but the Jaguars could not scramble to find the equalizer in the final ticks.
McGrath led the way for the Aces with a goal on a match-high four shots, while Ntabana added a goal on a pair of shots. Senior goalkeeper Matthew Keller stood tall between the posts, making the start and playing the first 60 minutes of action, earning the victory.
UE out-shot the Jaguars, 16-5, with an 11-0 advantage in the first half. The Aces also earned seven more corner kicks than IUPUI.
“It was a good chance for us to get everybody out tonight and get on the field and play a little bit, which was beneficial for us,” said Ray. “Great crowd tonight. It was great to have the freshman out and the community came out tonight. It’s always easier to play when you have fans backing you.”
The win is UE’s seventh-straight victory in its exhibition opener with the Aces’ last loss coming to Louisville on August 16, 2008.
The Aces open regular season action on Friday with a meeting with Anderson University (IN) at 7:30 p.m. at AradMcCutchan Stadium.
