Aces set to compete on Saturday

                                EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The 2025-26 campaign begins on Saturday when the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams travel to McKendree for a 1:30 p.m. meet.

Both Purple Aces squads have a solid mix of returning experience to go along with talented newcomers. The men return 13 from last season while adding 10 to the team. Highlighting the returners are juniors Joseph Capo and Joao Pereira. Capo has established himself as one of the top freestyle competitors in program history and ranks in the top 10 in four events. He holds the 3^rd-best time in both the 1000 and 1650 freestyle races. Pereira has excelled in breaststroke events. He holds the 4^th-fastest time in the UE record books in the 200 and ranks 10^th in the 100.

Evansville’s women return 11 from the 2024-25 campaign to go along with eight newcomers. Juniors Rafaela Makariewicz and Rebecca Lago have made their marks on the program record book in just two seasons. Makariewicz holds the 4^th-fastest time in the 100-breaststroke while ranking 9^th in the 200. Lago holds the No. 6 time in the 100-free while ranking 10^th in the 50-free.

McKendree is one of the top schools at the Division II level. Last season the Bearcats men’s squad took third place at the NCAA DII National Championship, its best finish in program history. The women earned a top-20 finish at the National Championships, taking 17^th.

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After winning their first MVC match of the season last Friday at Bowling Green, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team is back in action tomorrow for another key MVC clash, hosting Western Michigan at Arad McCutchan Stadium. Evansville enters Saturday’s match riding a five-match unbeaten streak and looks to win their third in a row. Kick-off is set for 6 PM.

The Purple Aces will celebrate Soccer Night in Evansville on Saturday, with kids (8th grade & younger) getting in free, while tickets for all other fans are just $5.

Last Time Out
In what was a rematch of last season’s MVC Tournament final, the Purple Aces 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 10^th 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 43^rd 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 74^th 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 tied the national lead (now second nationally) for goals by a freshman this season with six, all of which have come in the last five matches.

EVANSVILLE, Ind.– University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer wins its first Ohio Valley Conference contest of the season, 4-1, against Houston Christian University at Strassweg Field Thursday night.
 
This decisive win marked the team’s largest positive goal differential since a 6-0 victory over Missouri University of Science and Technology in 2019. Additionally, the four goals scored were the most for USI since the 2023 season finale against Lindenwood University.
 
USI came out of the gate on fire, dominating the offensive half of the field. The Eagles opened the scoring in the 20th minute of the match, as freshman Tony Murphy connected with freshman Edin Cvorovic for the first goal of the game and Cvorovic’s first of his career.
 
The Eagles kept the pressure on the Huskies, as junior Will Kirchhofer gathered the ball at midfield, finding sophomore Ahiro Nakamae up the sidelines, who then found Murphy in the box for his second goal of the season. USI led 2-0 for the first time this season.
 
USI was not done for the first 45, freshman Gian Colassaco found freshman Nolan Stevens open outside of the box for the final score of the half. USI went into the break up 3-0, despite being behind in total shots, nine to seven.
 
In the first half, Southern Indiana tallied five shots on goal compared to Houston Christian’s four. Freshman Jacob English made four impressive saves, including a diving grab in the 36th minute, helping preserve USI’s lead.
 
The second half saw the Houston Christian defense tighten, limiting USI’s opportunities. The Eagles capitalized on a 65th-minute free kick from Cvorovic, who found junior Pablo Juan open in the box for a fourth team goal, putting them up 4-0.
 
The Huskies battle back late, sneaking one into the net at 70:50 to cut the lead to three. HCU had multiple opportunities late in the game, but failed to capitalize. English made some miraculous saves late in the match, keeping Houston Christian from gaining momentum.
 
For the game, USI was outshot 24-10 and 8-6 on goal despite the season high in goals scored. Nine different Eagles recorded shots, with five on goal, a season high in both. The Huskies were able to force 10 corner kicks compared to the Eagles’ four. English tallied seven saves on the night, three in the second half, compared to the two by HCU goalkeepers.