EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Soccer allowed four second half goals in falling to OVC front-running Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 4-0, Sunday evening in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Eagles go to 1-11-3 overall and 0-5-3 in the OVC, while the Cougars are 12-0-3, 7-0-1 OVC.
 
USI and SIUE were scoreless after the first 45 minutes with USI junior goalkeeper Braden Matthews (Princeton, Indiana) leading the way defensively. Matthews survived a few close calls and made five saves in keeping the Cougars off the scoreboard in the first half.
 
In the second half, the Cougars took control of the match with a pair of goals one minute apart and another set just over two minutes in between. SIUE scored the eventual game-winner at 62:31 and sealed USI’s fate with a second tally at 63:35. The final set of goals came at 80:29 and 82:32 to close out the scoring in the 4-0 decision.
 
Offensively, USI had a few chances in the final 45 minutes, but could find the back of the goal. USI sophomore midfielder Ednilson Voiles (Haiti), senior midfielder Nick Faddis (St. Louis, Missouri), and senior forward/midfielder Dan Hartman (Seymour, Indiana) had a shot on-goal each, but could not get the Eagles on the board.
 
Despite the loss, USI is still in the hunt for a berth in the OVC Championship, which is scheduled for November 5-11 at SIUE. The Eagles need a victory in each of their last two matches to stay in the race with Eastern Illinois University and Chicago State University for the sixth and final spot in the tournament.
 
NEXT UP FOR USI:
The Eagles finish the two-match road swing Thursday when it returns a trip to EIU for a 4 p.m.
 
EIU is 3-8-3 overall and 2-4-1 OVC after tying Lindenwood University, 1-1, this afternoon on the road. The Panthers lead the all-time series with the Eagles, 9-2-0, after posting a 2-0 win over USI last week at Strassweg Field.
 
USI finishes the 2023 regular season at Strassweg Field October 29 at 5 p.m. versus Lindenwood University, which will start the week 6-4-6 overall and 3-1-4 in the OVC after the tie with EIU. Game time for USI-Lindenwood has been changed due to USI Women’s Soccer hosting the first and second rounds of the OVC Women’s Soccer Championship.

CHARLESTON, Ill. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer finished the 2023 regular season with a 2-1 loss on the road at Eastern Illinois University Sunday afternoon.

Entering Sunday’s contest, the Screaming Eagles (4-7-7, 3-2-4) had already clinched their 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament berth. USI sought to improve and solidify its postseason seeding against Eastern Illinois (4-8-4, 3-4-2) on Sunday, looking to host first-round and quarterfinal-round matchups.
 
After a tame start to the match, action in the attacking thirds picked up in the middle of the first half. Each team tallied one shot in the first 15 minutes before Eastern Illinois jumped on the scoreboard in the 19^th minute. The Panthers’ Espi Logan scored on a second-chance opportunity off a corner kick to give EIU a 1-0 lead. Nearly two minutes later, USI’s freshman midfielder Pilar Torres (Chula Vista, California) had a potential game-tying shot hit off the crossbar.
 
Late in the first half, USI started to grab some momentum in the offensive end. Southern Indiana racked up four shots in a 10-minute span, including two from sophomore midfielder Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana) and a shot on goal each by junior midfielder Adriana Berruti (Berwyn, Illinois) and senior defender Alexis Schone (Galena, Ohio). A minute before halftime, the attacking momentum paid off when sophomore forward Payton Seymour (Louisville, Kentucky) scored her second goal of the season on an assist from Murphy to even the contest, 1-1.
 
Out of the break, USI got back on the attack and received two early second-half shots from freshman midfielder Greta Ohlwein (Chicago, Illinois) that were kept out of the net. Unfortunately, Eastern Illinois went back the other way in the 55^th minute to retake the lead, 2-1, on a goal by Zenaya Barnes. USI tried to respond quickly with a pair of shots near the 60^th minute but was held off by the Panthers’ defensive unit.
 
Coming down the stretch, the Eagles did not go quietly with four shots in the last 10 minutes. Around the 80-minute mark, sophomore forward Shy Iles (Demossville, Kentucky) had a shot saved before another chance by Torres that was off the mark. Minutes later, freshman defender Kamryn Bea (O’Fallon, Missouri) had a shot miss wide. Inside the final minute, Ohlwein gave USI one last opportunity at a tying goal with a shot that ended up being saved.
 
Southern Indiana mounted 17 shots in the contest, holding Eastern Illinois to six. USI had seven shots on target compared to the Panthers’ three. Individually, Ohlwein led USI with three shots and two on goal. Berruti placed both of her shots on frame. Murphy and freshman midfielder Grace Bamber (Chesterton, Indiana) had two shots each. In goal, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) had a single save.
 
By the end of the afternoon Sunday, the OVC Championship field was set with Tennessee Tech University claiming the 1-seed after capturing a second consecutive regular-season championship. Morehead State University earned the No. 2 seed, joining Tennessee Tech with a double-bye into the semifinals. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville was awarded the No. 3 seed due to tiebreaking procedures after tying Southern Indiana with 13 points in the OVC standings. With SIUE as the 3-seed and USI as the 4-seed, the two programs earned a bye and will host a first-round and quarterfinal-round matchup on their respective sides of the bracket. The rest of the field wound up with the University of Tennessee at Martin as the 5-seed, Eastern Illinois as the No. 6, Southeast Missouri State University as the 7-seed, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock as the No. 8.
 
For the Screaming Eagles, USI will host and await the winner on Sunday, October 29, of the first-round 5/8 matchup between UT Martin and Little Rock on Friday, October 27. Both days are slated for 1 p.m. kickoffs from Strassweg Field. The semifinals and championship are scheduled for November 2 and 5, respectively, at Tennessee Tech.
 
All games of the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Tournament can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Additional coverage for USI can be found on usiscreamingeagles.com with full tournament coverage on the OVC website at ovcsports.com.

The Vincennes University volleyball program celebrated the career’s of VU’s five sophomore volleyball players Saturday afternoon in the Physical Education Complex with a big Region 24 sweep over Kaskaskia College 25-17, 25-15, 25-15.

VU got the match started with a bang, grabbing the early momentum to take a quick 12-7 lead over the Blue Angels.

Kaskaskia would fire back and cut the VU lead down to one before the Blazers outscored the Blue Angels 8-1 to take a commanding 24-16 lead and take set one 25-17 and grab the early 1-0 match lead.

Vincennes would continue to ride this momentum into the second set, after dropping the first two points of the set, VU would answer back with eight unanswered points to take an 8-2 lead.

Kaskaskia would rally with a 5-0 scoring run to cut the deficit down to two but were unable to take the lead back as VU pulled away late to take set two 25-15 and take a 2-0 match lead over Kaskaskia.

Set three began as a back-and-forth set through the first few points, with VU again able to break away by outscoring the Blue Angels 10-2 and take a 13-5 lead.

Kaskaskia would again look to erase the VU lead but were unable to put together a big scoring run of their own as Vincennes closed out the set and the match 25-15 to end the 2023 regular season with a Region 24 sweep over Kaskaskia College.

Today’s match was the final home regular season match for VU’s five sophomores, Audrey Buis (Franklin, Ind.), Morgan Netcott (Montague, Mich.), Paige Parlanti (Las Vegas, Nev.), Maecy Johnson (Chrisman, Ill.) and Kennedy Sowell (Effingham, Ill.)

This sophomore class ends the 2023 regular season with a two-year combined record of 58 wins and 15 losses, a perfect 24-0 record against Region 24 opponents and a perfect record of 13-0 at home this season.

“It’s always a great day when we recognize the sophomores,” VUVB Head Coach Gary Sien said. “They are the ones that have committed and have been here to study and play here for two years. It’s an important time in their lives that they have committed to Vincennes University. It’s always great to recognize that commitment, especially with this group. They are very good leaders and set a great example. They lead not only by example, but by being very vocal, which can be difficult at that age. This group deserves all of the recognition in the world for what they have done for this program as well as what they have done in the classroom. Vincennes University got a really good group of student-athletes with these five.”

“As far as the match, we knew they were going to be a tough opponent,” Sien added. “We always have very tough games with Kaskaskia and they always play us well. When we played them earlier in the year, we had some trouble against a couple of their hitters. We talked about making sure to be aware of them and to stop them. They really mandated our blocking scheme in order for us to make sure that we were in front of them and overall, we were able to take away some of their favorite shots.”

“That’s something we are able to do as a team with this group is to make adjustments on the fly,” Sien said. “It’s hard to do it with blocking but for us to be that flexible to make adjustments when needed, that’s a great mark for this team.”

“We also had some trouble with blocking against a back row attack last time we faced them,” Sien added. “They did get some kills out of that early on today but we adjusted some things with our defense to help cover that and our defense is so disciplined that we were able to do that on the fly. It’s almost a coach’s dream to have the players who are able to do that. It’s not every year that we have the ability here to make those adjustments quickly.”

“We knew what we needed to do out there and were very mindful of our goals today,” Sien said. “Obviously we did it. But the thing that I always come back to is that I know when we are playing really well is when we serve receive really well. Thursday, even when we had our sketchy moments, our serve receive was still pretty good. But I thought today it was exceptional and to be this late in the year, heading into the postseason, that’s really what we need because that can make a huge difference at any level. When we serve receive, I know it’s going to be a big game.”

The VU offense was led by another double-double by sophomore Paige Parlanti who finished with 12 kills, 11 digs, four blocks and two aces, recording her 19th double-double of the season while also finishing with a .524 hitting percentage for the match.

Sophomore Audrey Buis just missed a double-double of her own, ending the match with eight kills, while hitting .350 for the game, eight digs, one ace and one set assist.

Freshman Elisa Dalla Pozza (Vincenza, Italy) and Kennedy Sowell combined to control the middle of the net all game with Dalla Pozza ending with six kills, four blocks, two digs and a pair of aces, while Sowell ended her day with five kills, two blocks and one set assist. The two combined for a .550 hitting percentage as well.

Freshmen Laura Tavares (Merida, Venezuela) and Isadora Dias (Rio Grande de Norte, Brazil) rounded out the VU offense, with Tavares recording three kills and two digs, while Dias added two kills and three digs.

Maecy Johnson again ran a very efficient offense from the setter position, ending her day with 34 set assists, four digs and three kills.

Morgan Netcott again controlled the Vincennes back row defense with a team-high 13 digs and one set assist, while freshman Dylan DeCoursey entered in the third set to record an ace and one dig.

VU as a team finished the match with a .369 hitting percentage.

“Kaskaskia’s right sides really influenced our offense the last time we played them,” Sien said. “They really won the third set in Centralia because they took over not only with her hitting, but with her blocking. Today we ran some faster sets and really made it a point to set the ball all the way out to the pen so we have some room to work with. We were able to really move the ball away from her and make her move.”

“Our left sides were really efficient,” Sien added. “I know they weren’t always on the left side, but Audrey and Paige really hit for a very high percentage today. I thought our hitting on the left side was really exceptional. Even if we weren’t able to always put the ball away over there, I thought we had some really nice swings.”

“Our middle was pretty good today too,” Sien said. “We had one rally where Maecy set Elisa three times in a row. That’s what we are talking about when we say, ‘keeping the defense guessing’. A normal team would move the ball somewhere else. The defense is thinking that there’s no way we would set her a third time, but as the saying goes, the third time’s the charm. That’s the mentality that we have out there on the floor and it starts with our setter and having such a consistent middle. She had three really good swings and Kaskaskia played some good defense to keep the first two up, but she challenged them to do it a third time. That play right there was a really great example of how we played in the match overall. We were aggressive and we were really smart in our decision making.”

“We hit really well overall and were very efficient all match,” Sien added. “Tuesday and Thursday I thought we just hit okay, but this was a good match for our offense. Really all of our hitters had a really good day and that starts with our passing. If we are passing in system and Maecy is able to make choices and she made some really good choices today, we should get some kills.”

The Trailblazers will have just under a full week to prepare for their postseason run, which will begin Friday, Oct. 27 at the NJCAA Division I Region 24 tournament hosted by Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Ill.

Vincennes has earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament after completing their third-straight unbeaten Region 24 regular season at 12-0 and will face the winner of the No. 4-seed and No. 5-seed match at 5 p.m. eastern on Friday.

“It sounds very simple and very basic but we just have to be ready to play on Friday,” Sien said. “No matter who we play on Friday, they are going to have a little bit of an advantage because they play their last conference match on Monday and have the game before ours on Friday and in the case of Lincoln Trail, they have another match on Wednesday next week. So, if we end up playing Lincoln Trail, they’ve already played three matches since we’ve played this one today so they will be a bit more game ready.”

“Just as long as we are game ready, at least emotionally and mentally, I don’t see that as an issue,” Sien added. “But we have to approach it that way. This is where we really have to use our experience and our experience has to come into play. Not only on Friday, but when we start practicing for Friday next week. We have to practice hard and be really focused because that first set is going to be a real challenge.”

“I expect our sophomores to really take the lead and establish a ready attitude for the team, which they have done a really great job of all season,” Sien said. “That mental preparation has to be there this week because we don’t have another game to get us ready for Friday.”