EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's soccer team begins the 2011 GLVC schedule this weekend when it travels to Bellarmine University Friday and hosts defending national champion Northern Kentucky University Sunday. Kick off Friday is 5:30 p.m. (CDT) in Louisville, while Sunday's match is set for a 2:30 p.m. start at Strassweg Field.

 

Game coverage, including live stats for all matches, can be accessed at gousieagles.com.

 

The Screaming Eagles (1-1-0, 0-0-0 GLVC) are coming off a split to start to the 2011 regular season. USI lost an overtime match to sixth-ranked West Virginia Wesleyan College, 1-0, last Friday, but bounced back to defeat Davis & Elkins College, 1-0, Sunday.

 

Junior midfielder Jeffrey McClure (Indianapolis, Indiana) scored the Eagles' first goal of the season and the game winner against Davis & Elkins. The goal was McClure's 10^th of his career at USI and his fourth career game-winning goal.

 

USI was led on the defensive side by junior goalkeeper Ben Dempsey (Evansville, Indiana). Dempsey posted a 0.48 goals against average in the first two matches and did not allow a goal in regulation.

 

The Knights of Bellarmine (1-1-0, 0-0-0 GLVC) also started the season with a spit, losing at Tiffin University, 3-2, and winning at the University of Findlay, 6-0. Bellarmine freshman forward Shane Mihaljevic is on top of the Knight's scoring column with seven points on three goals and one assist.

 

USI leads the all-time series with Bellarmine, 21-11-1, although the Knights won the only meeting last year in overtime, 3-2. Bellarmine also has won four of the last five meetings.

 

The preseason number one and defending champion NKU (2-0-0, 0-0-0 GLVC) burst out of the gate to start the season, posting a 4-0 win over Findlay and a 2-1 victory over Ashland University. The Norse are on a 12-game winning streak dating back to last season.

 

NKU sophomore forward Mohamed Slaheih is on top of the Norse column with four points on a pair of goals, including the game winner over Findlay.

 

USI holds a slim 14-13-2 lead in the all-time series with NKU. The Norse have won the last seven match-ups with Eagles, dating back to 2004.

 

The USI-NKU match-up also is the start of three-match homestand for the Eagles. USI was 6-4-0 at Strassweg Field last year.