UE men’s soccer returns to Evansville for the Mayor’s Cup showdown

Evansville returns to Indiana in its weekend match up with crosstown rival Southern Indiana. This will be the Purple Aces first match at Strassweg Field in a Division I contest after the Screaming Eagles transitioned to the highest level of college sports last season. UE has traditionally played USI in the spring as a part of the Mayor’s Cup series when the teams were in separate Divisions. In the new iteration of the Mayor’s Cup, either team is looking for the series advantage as last year’s game ended in a 1-1 draw at Arad McCutchan Stadium.

The Aces looking to bounce back from a tough first stretch on the road in their return to the River City. UE couldn’t find their first road win in contests against High Point or UNC Asheville despite each being a one-goal game. But Evansville was able to welcome back its longest tenured goalkeeper to the pitch this past week. Graduate student Jacob Madden played his first match in over a year in goal after tearing his ACL in the summer of 2022. Madden made five saves in his return to action for Evansville. Along with senior Aidan Montoure the Aces goalkeepers are averaging 5 saves a game, good for 22nd in the country. Montoure leads the two with an average of 4.67 saves.

The Eagles come into Saturday’s match looking for their first win of the season after losses to IUPUI, Mercer, Wisconsin-Green Bay, and Akron. Over the past week USI struggled in a 7-0 defeat at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay but had a much closer game against #9 University of Akron in a 1-0 loss. UE will look to take advantage of the tough week on the road to get their first win against a Division I level Southern Indiana.

Tickets for the Mayor’s Cup can be purchased on site at Strassweg Field for $10 each. Fans that can’t make it to Strassweg will be able to follow along with the game on ESPN+ and Live Stats.