On homecoming night, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team dropped a 3-0 match to Loyola on Saturday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

“We were a little loose in the second half and gave up those two goals and that kind of killed the game off for us, but it was a competitive match up until that point,” said Aces head coach Marshall Ray. “Our guys still fought and battled, but we have to re-evaluate ourselves and look in the mirror and see what we did well and see what we did wrong and try and get that sorted out.”

Senior midfielder Ian McGrath led the Aces with four shots, two on-goal, in the loss. For the Ramblers, Elliot Collier scored twice and Alec Lasinski added a goal to power Loyola.

The Ramblers opened the scoring with a 26th-minute goal by Collier as he settled the ball and scored from the top of the box to give Loyola a 1-0 lead.

Defensively, the Aces held off the Ramblers for a 36-minute stretch until Loyola scored its second goal of the night as Lasinski received a pass in the box from Collier and finished it into the back of the net in the 62nd minute. Just a minute and a half later, Loyola recorded its third goal as Collier scored his second of the night as the Ramblers would hold that advantage, earning a 3-0 victory.

In the match, Evansville was out-shot by the Ramblers, 10-6, with Loyola also earning a slim advantage in corner kicks, 4-3.

Its back to non-conference play for the Aces as they travel to Nashville, Tennessee to take on Lipscomb at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

UE volleyball drops 3-0 decision at Valparaiso

 With a long 5-set match victory on Friday evening, the University of Evansville volleyball team was unable to make it 2-for-2 on the trip as the Purple Aces dropped a 3-0 match to Valparaiso on Saturday.

Mildrelis Rodriguez led the Aces (8-13, 2-7 MVC) with seven kills while Erlicia Griffith finished the night with five.  Rodriguez also led the squad with 12 digs.  Valparaiso (10-10, 3-5 MVC) saw Taylor Graboski finish with 12 kills while Allison Ketcham had 11.

The Purple Aces had a great start on the night as Allana McInnis notched a service ace in a 4-0 run to start the match.  After the Crusaders got within one at 6-5, UE opened up a 3-point lead once again thanks to a Mildrelis Rodriguez kill.  Valparaiso continued to fight back, tying it up for the first time at 10-10 before taking the lead on the next point.  They continued to roll, going on a 10-2 run to go up 20-12.  Evansville fought back late, but Valpo took game one, 23-17.

Just as they did in the opening frame, UE got off to a nice start in game two, posting the first three tallies in a row as Gabriela Dos Santos opened it up with a kill.  The Crusaders responded with a 5-1 run as they took a 5-4 lead on an Allison Ketcham ace.  After the Aces tied it up, Valpo started to extend its lead, winning by a 25-12 final.

In the third set, it was Valpo who got off to a 3-0 start and pushed their lead to five points at 10-5.  The Aces were able to get within a pair at 13-11 in a run that was keyed by an Erlicia Griffith kill.  Following that rally, the Crusaders clamped down and pulled away to finish the match off on a 25-18 decision and a 3-0 victory.

On Friday, the Aces are back home for a 7 p.m. matchup versus Indiana State at Meeks Family Fieldhouse.

 The University of Evansville women’s soccer team took an early lead, but eventually fell to Drake, 4-1, on homecoming on Saturday afternoon at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Indiana.

“Anytime we can score first, the girls get excited,” said Aces head coach Krista McKendree. “I thought that would really be an energizer for us to come out and compete for the rest of the game, but that wasn’t the case.”

For the Aces, senior midfielder Montana Portenier led the way with a goal on two shots. Rachel Wanninger led the Bulldogs with a pair of goals on four shots.

Portenier got the scoring started in the 28th minute as junior forward Sara Osinski launched a shot that deflected off the crossbar and Portenier gathered the rebound and found the back of the net.

Just before the half, Drake found its equalizer as Hannah Wilder scored in the box off assists by Olivia Bruce and Abby Stephenson.

In the 52nd minute, the Bulldogs gained their first lead of the match on a goal by Wanninger from 15 yards out off an assist by Rebecca Rodgers. Wanninger added a second goal on the afternoon in the 61st minute, assisted by Alyssa Brand. Drake added a fourth goal in the waning moments of the match as Rodgers was once again involved, assisting Hannah Bormann on a goal in the 89th minute.

The Aces were out-shot by Drake, 18-5, with corner kicks also going in the Bulldogs favor by a narrow 3-2 margin.

Up next, Evansville heads to Terre Haute to take on Indiana State on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. (CT).