UE men’s soccer captures MVC Championship in overtime
The Purple Aces head to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The University of Evansville men’s soccer team was again the overtime victor in the postseason with a 3-2 win over #3 Bowling Green.
The Purple Aces ended the MVC Championship much like it began with an overtime victory on a road pitch. UE earned its second MVC Tournament title on Saturday night and for the first time in 28 years. Senior forward Kai Phillip (Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago) and sophomore midfielder Baraka Tarleton (Andover, Minn. / Andover HS) were the two goal scorers for Evansville while the game-winning goal in the 99th minute was credited as a team goal.
“When you go down 2-1 in the first half you have to go search the game. Especially in a game like this, you don’t want to leave any cards on the table. You want to go all in,” said Head Coach Robbe Tarver following the win. “That’s what we did. We kept the pressure up. I thought we were very patient as the game went on and tried to find good moments because the win was tough trying to get it from behind. We found our moment to score and continued it into overtime to win.”
For the second match in a row, it was a defensive battle to start the MVC Championship on Saturday. The first shot of the entire match was the Aces’ first goal in the waning seconds of the 30th minute. Midway into the attacking third redshirt freshman midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi (Giulia, Italy) found Phillip on the left side of the field. Phillip took the ball from the top of the 18 to the 12 before shooting it past the Falcons goalkeeper into the middle of the box.
But UE only held the lead for under four minutes as Bowling Green answered on a score that barely crossed the goal line. The Falcons’ offensive pressure continued and they added a leading goal in the 40th minute on a shot from the right side of the penalty area. Evansville wasn’t able to answer in the final five minutes and headed into halftime trailing by one.
Bowling Green tested freshman goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove HS) early in the second half with a close shot in the 52nd minute. Mroz made the save diving to the bottom left of the goal, spurring the Aces’ offense. Fedrizzi had back-to-back shots that almost made it past Falcons’ goalkeeper Brendan Graves in the 67th and 68th minutes. But it would be Tarleton who found the back of the net in the 79th minute to help send the game into overtime.
UE had a free kick just two feet from the corner that Fedrizzi placed right inside the goal box. A Bowling Green player bounced the ball to Graves, but Tarleton was able to head the rebound to the crossbar. The ball dropped from the crossbar to Tarleton’s feet where he buried the shot into the top of the net. Evansville had two more shots in the 90 minutes while the Falcons had the final one, but neither team found the game-winning goal in regulation.
Overtime was all Aces as they dominated possession and shots, not allowing Bowling Green a chance. Phillip had his second shot of the night early in the period that was blocked. Fedrizzi quickly found the ball for another shot that was saved by Graves. Neither team had much offense until the early seconds of the 99th minute when UE drew a corner kick on the right side. Fedrizzi took the kick and curved the ball almost to the goal line. A Falcon defender then knocked the ball into the net giving Evansville the game-winning goal right before the overtime period would have ended.
Kai Phillip was named the MVC Tournament MVP scoring two goals in three games and recording seven shots with four landing on goal. Three other Aces players were named to the MVC All-Tournament Team: midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi, junior defender Nacho Garcia (Zaragoza, Spain), and freshman defender Martin Wurschmidt (Fram, Norway). Phillip, Garcia, and Wurschmidt all scored at least one goal in the tournament while Fedrizzi assisted on two goals.
Fedrizzi led UE in shots on Saturday with four and two on goal. Phillip, Tarleton, and graduate forward Sami Owusu (Denver / Dayton) all had two shots with one on goal each for Evansville’s 10 shots. The Aces outshot Bowling Green two to one while both teams had two corner kicks each.
UE will find out its first opponent of the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon during the Selection Show at 12 p.m. It will be Evansville’s first appearance in the NCAA postseason since 1996.
