The Purple Aces are trying to make their way into the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament in the final match of the 2023 regular season
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NASHVILLE —Â The University of Evansville men’s soccer team will play its final regular season match of 2023 on Wednesday night.
Evansville earned a crucial three points in the Missouri Valley Conference postseason race on Friday night against the Bradley Braves. The Aces earned their second conference win and second shutout of the MVC season on their senior night. Senior forward Kai Phillip added his ninth goal of the season in UE’s 1-0 win while graduate goalkeeper Jacob Madden had his third clean sheet of the year.
Evansville hopes to get their first road win in Valley play this week as they travel to Belmont for the final game of the season. The Aces last played the Bruins in Nashville during the 2021 fall season prior to Belmont joining the Missouri Valley Conference. In the two team’s 15-game series, UE holds the edge with 12 wins and last won in Tennessee in 2016. Evansville won the team’s final meeting in 2022 in the MVC Tournament Semifinals, posing a 1-0 shutout against the Bruins at Missouri State.
Belmont comes into Wednesday’s game with an 8-6-2 overall record and a 3-4 conference record. The Bruins are coming off a tough 5-0 loss to the winners of the MVC Regular Season, Western Michigan. The 5-0 loss was the most goals conceded by Belmont since a similar defeat at UNC Wilmington on Oct. 13, 2019. The Bruins are led by sophomore forward Brock Kiper and graduate midfielder Jansen Wilson. Kiper leads the team in goals with 5 along with 4 assists while Wilson has 5 assists and 4 goals on the season.
The Aces are in a multiple-tie scenario heading into Wednesday. With seven points, the Aces are tied with Northern Illinois for the final spot in the tournament. A win against the Bruins would secure a spot in the tournament for UE. A result against Belmont could also secure Evansville the final seed of the tournament if NIU either ties or loses to Bowling Green.
