The University of Southern Indiana men’s soccer team scored early and often in a 4-2 victory over Union University Sunday afternoon in Jackson, Tennessee. The Screaming Eagles start a season 2-0, while Union falls to 0-2 to start the year.

USI got the early lead, 1-0, with a little help from Union on an own-goal at 6:21. The Eagles quickly extended the lead on their own with a tally by freshman defender Justin Raines (Bartlett, Tennessee), his second goal of the season. Raines was assisted on the play by freshman midfielder Tyler Paradis (Fishers, Indiana) and sophomore defender Drew Albert (Eureka, Missouri).

USI sophomore midfielder Sean Rickey (Columbia, Illinois) knocked in the third goal of the half and his first of the season off a pass from sophomore midfielder Adam Newman (Marion, Illinois) at 27:40. Union would score with 1:29 left in the half for a 3-1 USI lead at intermission.

In the second half, USI sealed the victory when sophomore defender Justin Brooks (Fishers, Indiana) increased the Eagles’ lead to 4-1 at the 71:42. Brooks scored the breakaway goal off the long pass and second assist of the game by Albert.

Union tried to get back into the match, closing the gap to 4-2 with a penalty kick goal at 80:12. The 4-2 margin was a close as the match would be the rest of the way as the Eagles closed out their second win of the year.

Between the posts, senior goalkeeper Adam Zehme (Orland Park, Illinois) posted his second win of the year. Zehme allowed one goal and made a pair of saves in 82 minutes of action. Freshman goalkeeper Justin Faas (Carmel, Indiana) finished the match between the posts, allowing one goal and making a save.

The Eagles continue their four match road swing Friday when they open the 2017 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Follow the live coverage, including live stats and video, on GoUSIEagles.com.

USI returns to the friendly surroundings of Strassweg Field September 22 when it hosts the University of Indianapolis for a 7:30 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference match.

Aces head to Ohio 

 The new season begins on Monday for the University of Evansville women’s golf team as they travel to the Roseann Schwartz Invitational at Mill Creek Park Golf Course in Boardman, Ohio.

The event will feature nine other schools including Wheeling Jesuit, Indiana State, Saint Francis (Pa.), Marshall, Dayton, Niagara, Akron, Youngstown State and Cleveland State. This will be the largest field of teams the event has ever featured.

Set to be played on Mill Creek Park’s North Course, the teams will play single rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Monday’s round is set to start at 10 a.m. with tee times going until 1 p.m. Tuesday’s tee times are scheduled from 8 to 9:30 a.m. The course will play 6,023 yards and par is 72.

Purple Aces mainstays Kayla Katterhenry and Maggie Camp have graduated and UE will now look to Maria Pickens, Giulia Mallmann, Madison Chaney and Lexie Sollman to take the helm of the squad.  Pickens is the highest returning player as she average 83.53 stroke per round last season.  Her top effort last year came at the Braun Invitational as she tied for 6^th place.

Chaney averaged 84.25 strokes while Mallmann finished her junior campaign at 84.64 strokes.

UE also welcomes newcomers Minka Gill and Sophia Rohleder to the team.  Gill is a native of Kokomo, Ind. where she attended Western High School.  Rohleder is from Evansville and played at Mater Dei.

The University of Southern Indiana women’s soccer team could not stop the University of Findlay in the second half and suffered a 5-3 defeat Saturday afternoon Findlay, Ohio. USI goes to 1-1 to start the season, while Findlay finishes the first weekend, 1-1.

The Screaming Eagles got off to a fast start and built a 2-1 lead by the intermission. Freshman midfielder Maggie Winter (St. Louis, Missouri) started the Eagles’ scoring at 13:00, her second goal of the weekend.

After Findlay got the equalizer less than a minute later at 13:27, USI freshman defender Madelyne Juenger (Columbia, Illinois) put the Eagles back on top, 2-1, at 14:47 with her first collegiate goal. Juenger was assisted on the play by sophomore midfielder Courtney Spicer (Loveland, Ohio). The Eagles would hold the 2-1 lead through the intermission.

The second half would belong to the Oilers as they started the final 45 minutes with three unanswered goals to take control. Finlay knotted the score at 2-2 just 1:07 past halftime and took the lead for good, 3-2, at 55:17 and 4-2 at 64:11.

USI would try to get back into the match in the final 15 minutes. Winter struck for her second goal of the afternoon at 77:00 to close the gap to 4-3 and hit the crossbar at 81:00, but that would be as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the match.

Findlay closed out the scoring with the match’s final goal at 88:56 to seal its victory.

The Eagles return to the tristate Tuesday when they visit Oakland City University for a 3 p.m. USI is not slated to play in front of the home crowd at Strassweg Field until September 22 when it hosts the University of Indianapolis for a 5 p.m. Great Lakes Valley Conference match-up.