EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana men's soccer team returns to the road this week after a strong finish to its longest homestand of the season. USI begins a short two-match road swing Friday at Saint Joseph's College before concluding the trip Sunday at the University of Indianapolis.
Kick-off Friday versus Saint Joseph's in Rensselaer, Indiana, is 5 p.m., while the start time Sunday at Indianapolis is 1:30 p.m. (CDT). Live coverage availability can be found at GoUSIEagles.com.
Week 5 Eagle Notes: Eagles has strong finish to homestand. USI (3-4-1, 2-3-1 GLVC) concluded its longest homestand of the year with a 2-2-0 mark, winning two of the last three matches. The Screaming Eagles lost a close 1-0 decision to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside to start the second half of the homestand, but bounced back with a 1-0 win over Lewis University to end the homestand.
USI looking to reach .500. The Eagles will be shooting to reach the .500 mark for the first time since the second match of the season this week. USI also has a chance to reach the .500 mark for the first time this year in the GLVC when it plays at Saint Joseph's Friday night.
Eagles in the GLVC. USI is currently in a five-way tie for seventh in the GLVC with a 2-3-1 conference record. USI is a game-and-a-half ahead of last year's pace when it was 1-5-0 after six league contests.
Weinzapfel leading the USI offensive attack. USI junior midfielder
Josh Weinzapfel (Evansville, Indiana) leads the USI offensive attack this year with six points on two goals and two assists. Weinzapfel also has a game-winning goal (vs. Lewis) and has assisted on a game-winning goal (vs. Maryville University). Sophomore forward
Steve Sokol (Perth, Australia) and freshman forward
Braiden Acton (Evansville, Indiana) follow Weinzapfel in the scoring column with four points on two goals each.
Bruder was tough in goal. Junior goalkeeper
Auston Bruder (Evansville, Indiana) has been tough in goal for the Eagles through the last five games. Bruder has a 0.40 goals against average after allowing only two goals in the last 455 minutes of action. He also has a 0.87 GAA overall through eight games and 725 minutes of play.
Santoro is in his sixth year. USI Head Coach
Mat Santoro has a 41-47-7 overall record at USI, but is 21-18-4 in the last three seasons.
Eagles hope to get GLVC-best 11th conference title in 2014. USI has a GLVC-best 10 conference championships in men's soccer since 1979. The Eagles also are looking for their first league title since 1991.
USI hopes to continue rolling versus Saint Joseph's. The Eagles hope to continue rolling against the Pumas of Saint Joseph's (1-6-1, 1-4-1 GLVC). USI has won four of the last five meetings with a tie in 2011 and leads the all-time series, 20-4-2.
Eagles looks to get back on track versus Greyhounds. USI looks to get back on track versus UIndy (3-3-2, 3-2-1 GLVC) after dropping a 2-0 decision last year at Strassweg Field. The Eagles are 3-3-0 versus the Greyhounds through the last six years, but hold a 20-10-0 all-time lead in the series. UIndy hosts the University of Illinois Springfield Friday evening before welcoming USI on Sunday.
