The Purple Aces put their five match unbeaten streak on the line Friday evening
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The University of Evansville men’s soccer team makes its final conference trip to the no. 17 Missouri State Bears.
The Purple Aces secured their spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with a 1-0 win over Bowling Green on Friday night. It was UE’s first win over the Falcons as MVC opponents and their first since 2006 after Bowling Green had won the past two matches. Evansville’s lone goal on Friday came from graduate forward Sami Owusu (Denver / Dayton) in the 60th minute on a defensive mistake from the Falcons.Missouri State comes into Friday’s matchup as one of the Top 25 teams in the nation. The Bears were ranked 17th in the country by the United Soccer Coaches on Tuesday afternoon following a 0-0 tie with Saint Louis last week. While Missouri State had a bye week from MVC action over the course of two months the Bears haven’t lost a Valley game yet. Missouri State has five wins in conference play with the team’s one tie coming against no. 11 Western Michigan. The Bears are led by senior forward Jesus Barea who leads the MVC in goals with 13 through 14 matches. With 13 goals, Barea is third in the nation for goals in the 2024 season while comfortably leading the Valley by three goals.
The Aces relied on a six-save performance by goalkeeper Michal Mroz (Elk Grove, Ill. / Elk Grove HS) to shut out Bowling Green on Friday. With the win against the Falcons UE extends its unbeaten streak to five matches. The win signified Mroz’s eighth of the year, marking the most by a keeper since 2022 and the most by a freshman keeper since 2016.
Mroz is also back in the national ranks as he’s tied for 22nd in the country with 61 saves in 15 matches. Mroz is also one of three goalkeepers in the Valley with more than 50 saves, leading the conference with 61.
