AMHURST, Mass. – The University of Evansville men’s soccer team had its best season in 15 years come to a close on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in a 2-1 loss at Massachusetts.

The Purple Aces made their return to the NCAA Tournament after 28 years and fought to the final second against the UMass Minutemen. Graduate forward Sami Owusu (Denver / Dayton) had UE’s lone goal of the match in the 71st minute. He was one of only two Evansville players to record multiple shots over 90 minutes at Rudd Field along with redshirt freshman midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi (Guilia, Italy).

“These guys showed the same level of desire and commitment they have all season, the game just didn’t end up going our way. We fought and scrapped for everything. These guys should be proud of how they represented themselves, this program, and our university.

“We are proud that we returned this program back to the tournament in 28 years when the people in this group were the only people who believed we could. These guys have left this program better than they found it.”

It was a dry beginning at UMass for the Aces as the projected rain in the forecast stopped and the team struggled to find its offense. The Minutemen had the first four shots of the match along with the first goal in the 21st minute.

UE registered its first shot nine minutes later as graduate defender Tobias Bak (Taastrup, Denmark) took one from the far right side of the penalty area that was saved down low by UMass goalkeeper Alex Geczy. Evansville had only two other chances in the first 45 minutes as senior forward Edward Mendy (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley West HS) beat two defenders in the box to force a diving save left.

The second half was a quicker offensive start for the Aces as redshirt junior defender Jon Varela (Vitoria, Spain) had a shot go over the crossbar in the first four minutes. The teams traded shots until the 60th minute when the Minutemen doubled their lead. Momentum stayed in the home team’s favor until Owusu took a blocked shot in the 67th minute.

UE took control for the next five minutes while scoring the team’s lone goal of the match. Owusu took the ball up the left side of the penalty area to the six. At the six he crossed past his defender and Geczy into the bottom left corner of the net. Following the goal Evansville kicked its offense into high gear, taking five shots over the final 16 minutes.

Four of those five shots for the Aces came in the last four minutes. UE kept possession on its half of the field for over eight minutes as four separate players took chances at the net. Sophomore winger Auden Engen Vik (Trondheim, Norway) had a shot just inside the 18 that forced a jumping save to the right. While fifth-year forward Kai Phillip (Diego Martin, Trinidad & Tobago) had a shot in the final 30 seconds off a corner kick that was headed just wide of the net.

Evansville ends the 2024 season with the program’s most wins since 2017 and its best winning percentage since 2009. The Aces’ 35 goals were the most in a season dating back to 2007 when UE had a 45-goal year in 20 matches. Evansville completes 2024 with an 11-7-3 overall record, a 4-3-1 Missouri Valley Conference record, and the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1996.