EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Soccer closed out its non-conference schedule in a big way Sunday afternoon at Strassweg Field, posting a 6-1 victory over Purdue University Fort Wayne in front of several USI Women’s Soccer alumni in attendance for alumni weekend.
USI Women’s Soccer wrapped up its non-conference slate with its fourth consecutive result and third win in the last four matches to improve to 3-5-1 heading into the start of Ohio Valley Conference play later this week. Meanwhile, Purdue Fort Wayne dropped to 1-6-1 before the start of the conference season in the Horizon League.
The six goals by the Screaming Eagles on Sunday are a program best since USI made the jump to Division I in 2022 and the most scored in a single game since 2019 when USI scored six against the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Five different Screaming Eagles scored a goal on Sunday. The last time five different Eagles scored a goal in a single game was in the 2020-21 championship spring season in a win against Southwest Baptist University.
Leading the goal-scoring for USI Women’s Soccer against the Mastodons was sophomore forward Josie Pochocki. Pochocki not only scored her first career goal but also her first two-goal game. Pochocki recorded the brace and placed all three shot attempts on goal in the contest. Pochocki became the second Screaming Eagle to have a two-goal outing this season, as senior forward Emerson Grafton had a pair of tallies in USI’s home win against Valparaiso University on September 4. The last time USI had multiple players with a two-goal performance in the same season was in the 2021 season, with three players achieving the feat that fall.
Speaking of Grafton, the senior found the back of the net for the second consecutive home match on Sunday, pushing her team-leading total to three on the campaign and matching her total from last season. Grafton also had an assist on Sunday.
Freshman forward Brooke Shafer registered her first career goal on a penalty kick in the second half of Sunday’s match to become the fourth USI freshman to score this season. Shafer had two shots on goal in three shot attempts. Redshirt sophomore forward Eva Boer notched her second goal of the season. Junior forward Erica Cox capped off the scoring for the Eagles with her first goal in a USI uniform, becoming the 10th different Screaming Eagle to score this season.
USI came out Sunday with energy and on the attack. Pochocki started the scoring with her first goal of the match in the eighth minute off a corner kick. It was the third game this season that USI scored a goal within the first 10 minutes of action.
The Eagles doubled their lead to 2-0 nearly 25 minutes into the game when Grafton headed a ball across the face of the goal and in off another USI corner kick from senior defender Brynn Quick. Purdue Fort Wayne responded with a goal only a couple of minutes later to bring it back to a one-goal lead for USI, 2-1, which remained the score at halftime.
Out of the intermission, it was Pochocki who got USI rolling again early, just like the first half. Pochocki finished a rebound opportunity off a punch-away by the Purdue Fort Wayne goalkeeper to score her second goal of the game and push USI back ahead by two, 3-1, nearly five minutes into the second half. The goal marked the fourth time this season that USI scored within the first 10 minutes after halftime.
The Screaming Eagles kept the control in the second half and went up 4-1 in the 68th minute after Shafer’s relentless effort and hustle in the previous five minutes were rewarded with a penalty-kick conversion.
The goal-scoring feast continued in the 76th minute when Boer settled a pass from junior defender Kamryn Bea at her foot for a turnaround rocket into the back of the net to increase USI’s lead to four, 5-1. Then the Eagles finished the scoring barrage with the goal by Cox in the 88th minute off another cross, this time off an assist by freshman midfielder Paulina Campos.
Overall, the Screaming Eagles totaled 19 shots with 11 on goal against the Mastodons. The 19 shots marked USI’s second-highest shot total this season after tallying 21 against Cleveland State University in August. The 11 shots on goal were a season high in addition to 12 corner kicks on Sunday.
Defensively, USI limited Purdue Fort Wayne to its one goal on five shots and three on target. Before the Mastodons scored their only goal on Sunday, the Screaming Eagles extended their defensive scoreless streak to 313 consecutive minutes, marking the longest defensive scoring stretch for USI since the D-I jump in 2022.
Next, USI Women’s Soccer set its sights on the start of OVC play later this week. USI will kick off the OVC season on Saturday, September 20, on the road at the University of Tennessee at Martin. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. from Martin, Tennessee, and can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.
