UE Men’s Soccer Releases 2023 Season Schedule

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Building off back-to-back MVC Conference finals, Head Coach Robbe Tarver and the University of Evansville’s men’s soccer program have announced their 2023 schedule Purple Aces will play a 19-game slate including 3 exhibition matches in 2023. Evansville continues to have tough non-conference matchups and a conference schedule that includes three new additions to the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). Five of the Aces 19 opponents appeared in postseason play in 2022 in the NCAA tournament.
 
Season tickets for the Aces’ nine-game home slate are available for just $45 and can be purchased here. Combo season tickets that include admission to all home UE Men’s and Women’s Soccer matches is just $75 and is available here.
 
In preparation for the regular season, the Purple Aces will head down to Birmingham to play the University of Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday, September 12^th for a rematch after a 2-2 draw in the 2023 spring season. The following weekend sees the Aces traveling to Indianapolis to play IUPUI on Sunday at 4pm. This is another rematch of the 2022 season for UE as they won 3-1 against the Jaguars in the second match of the 2022 season. Two days later, Evansville rounds out its exhibition slate hosting Hanover in an annual preseason matchup with the Panthers.
 
Saturday, August 19th marks the return of the annual Alumni Game after a COVID-induced break. The festivities that weekend will include a 2:00pm Kick Off and a social gathering following the match. Register to attend here: https://www.uealumnionline.com/s/1096/bp20/interior.aspx?sid=1096&gid=1&pgid=3900&cid=6728&ecid=6728
 
The regular season again opens with a familiar opponent, the Bellarmine Knights, who travel to Evansville on Thursday, August 24^th for a 7:00pm kick. A growing rivalry, the 2022 matchup ended in a 2-2 draw after some late match drama. Bellarmine is another opponent that had a deep postseason run going to the ASUN semi-finals. Before heading on their first road trip of the season, the Purple Aces host CSU-Fullerton on Sunday, August 27^th at 1:00 pm. The Titans are coming off an 8-6-5 season.
 
For Labor Day weekend, the Purple Aces will go on the road to North Carolina, starting with a Friday night tilt against High Point. High Point won the 2022 Big South tournament and made the second round of the 2022 NCAA tournament, beating perennial power, UNC along the way. On Labor Day, the Aces face off against another Big South opponent, UNC-Asheville, who they last saw in 2019 for a 1-0 win.
 
The road trip ends with the Mayor’s Cup as the Purple Aces travel down the Lloyd to face off against the Screaming Eagles in the second Division I edition of the Mayor’s Cup on Saturday, September 9^th. The inaugural D1 edition ended in a 0-0 draw in 2022 with the Aces outpacing USI in shots 15-6.
 
Evansville then returns home to face another OVC opponent in Lindenwood, on Wednesday, September 13^th. The Purple Aces won their 2022 match 2-1 with goals from Kai Phillip and Carlos Barcia.
 
To start the MVC portion of the season, UE heads to Des Moines, Iowa to play Drake on Saturday, September 16^th. The Aces won their lone matchup of 2022 to the Bulldogs 3-0 on a brace from Nacho Diaz and a goal from Kai Phillip.
 
Evansville then has a 2-game home stand starting with a midweek match against the University of Louisville. The Cardinals are coming off back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances and their first regular-season ACC title. The Cards won last season’s match 2-0 in Kentucky. UE then welcomes new MVC foe Northern Illinois to town for the second match of MVC play. The game against NIU on Saturday, September 23^rd will be during Family Weekend.
 
The Purple Aces return to the road to visit another new MVC opponent, Bowling Green State. The Falcons went 6-5-5 on the heels of a 2021 NCAA tournament appearance in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). Continuing MVC play, UE hosts Western Michigan at 5 pm on Saturday, October 7^th. WMU won the MAC last year and made the 2022 Sweet 16, defeating familiar foes Louisville and Lipscomb in the NCAA tournament.
 
An in-state rivalry is renewed midway through the season as Evansville heads to Indiana in a non-conference match on Wednesday, October 11^th. Evansville and IU tied 1-1 last year at Arad McCutchan Stadium, marking the first draw against the 2022 NCAA runners-up for UE since 1994.
 
The Purple Aces close out the season with four conference games including heading back to Chicago to face UIC on Saturday, October 14^th. UIC won 2-0 with two second-half goals in 2022. In a midweek conference match on October 18^th at 6pm, UE welcomes Missouri State back to Evansville for a rematch of the 2021 and 2022 MVC Conference finals. MSU won the back-and-forth affair 4-3 in the regular season and snuck by the Aces with a lone goal in the MVC final.
 
The Aces host their final home game of the regular season with Senior Day on Friday, October 27^th at 7 pm. UE welcomes the Bradley Braves to Evansville after a 0-0 draw in the 2022 season. In their last match of the regular season, the Purple Aces head down to Nashville to face the Belmont Bruins. UE and Belmont faced off three times last season with the Aces besting the Bruins 1-0 in the MVC semi-finals on a Ola Arntsen’s rocket after two ties in the regular season.
 
The MVC Championship will be hosted at campus sites starting on November 5^th, with the No. 1 overall seed hosting the semifinals and finals.

Evansville returns its top 5-point getters for the 2023 season in Nacho Diaz (9g, 1a), Kai Phillip (5g, 1a), Jose Vivas (4g, 3a), Carlos Barcia (3g, 4a), and Nkosi Graham (1g, 4a). The Aces also welcome back net minder Jacob Madden from injury and return Tobias Bak, Francesco Brunetti, Nalu Wagner, and Marc Vila. In all, the Aces return 12 players from their 2022 roster.