EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After starting Missouri Valley Conference play atop the conference standings at 2-0, the University of Evansville men’s soccer team travels to Evanston, Ill. on Tuesday for a non-conference test against the Northwestern Wildcats. Evansville enters Saturday’s match riding a six-match unbeaten streak and looks to win their fourth in a row. Kick-off is set for 6:30 PM.
Last Time Out
Evansville moved to 2-0 in MVC play for the first time since 2016 on Saturday night, taking down Western Michigan by a score of 2-0. With the win, the Aces extend their unbeaten streak to six and their winning streak to three. The streak marks Evansville’s first unbeaten streak of six matches in the single season since 2009.
Evansville struck early for the second match in a row, with Tancredi Fadda (Monza, Italy/University of Milan) finding the back of the net with a rocket in the fourth minute for his second goal of the season. The goal came off assists from Nacho Diaz-Caneja (Coruña, Spain/Oregon State) and Andres Escudero (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain/IES Joan Miro).
Fadda was active throughout the remainder of the first half, tallying two more shots, but the score remained 1-0 going into halftime.
The Purple Aces struck again shortly after the halftime intermission, when Nate Roberts (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) earned a penalty by drawing a foul in the box in the 50th minute. Martin Wurschmidt (Stavern, Norway/Thor Heyerdahl VGS) stepped to the spot and buried a shot past a diving Broncos keeper to make it 2-0. The penalty goal was Wurschmidt’s second of the season.
From there, the Evansville defense held strong to post their fourth shutout of the season. Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove) made five saves in the final 20 minutes of action to tie his season-high and record his second shutout in a row. Over the last five matches, Mroz has allowed just one goal.
Series History
Saturday marks the third meeting between the Aces and Wildcats and the first since 2004. Evansville leads the series 1-0-1 with a 2-1 win in Evansville. The only prior meeting between the two sides in Evanston came in 2003, resulting in a 2-2 tie.
Scouting Northwestern
Northwestern comes into Tuesday’s match with a 5-4-1 record and a 1-3 mark in Big Ten play. The last time out for the Wildcats came last Monday, a 1-0 loss to Washington. Evansville is the second MVC opponent that the Wildcats will face this season, having dropped a 3-2 decision to UIC on September 1.
