EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Soccer heads on the road for back-to-back matches starting with a flight to Denver, Colorado to take on the University of Denver on Wednesday, October 19 at 8pm (CDT). The Screaming Eagles then head to St. Charles, Missouri to take on familiar foe in Lindenwood University for the second time this season on Sunday, October 23, with kickoff at 2pm. USI will then return home for their final homestand of the season with matches against Western Illinois University and the University of St. Thomas.
 
USI had an extended break from play this past week. Having 11 days between matches. The break will try to boost the Eagles back into form, coming off two losses following their first win of the season at Eastern Illinois University. The Eagles had been outscored in their last two matches, 6-1, and have allowed 44 shots. With a tough matchup with the 8th ranked Pioneers looming on Wednesday, the Eagles have a favorable schedule to look forward to after. USI's next three opponents have a combined five wins on the season, and each have just one conference win on the year. The Eagles will face Lindenwood for the second time this season. The Lions were victorious when these two met on September 16 at Strassweg Field in a non-conference match, 2-1. USI will then host two new opponents in Western Illinois and St. Thomas.
 
USI has been trying to find that consistent goal scorer up front all season. The Eagles have three players leading the team with two goals this season. Nick Faddis (St. Louis, Missouri), Sam Benoist (Foristell, Missouri), and Ryan Nevins (St. Peters, Missouri) lead the team in goals while Faddis is one of four Eagles with two assists this season. Zach Barton (St. Louis, Missouri) has been the head man up front for USI, playing 12 games and starting 10. Barton leads the team with 18 shots and 11 shots on goal but has scored just one goal.
 
The USI defense has been one of the talking points this year. The defensive line is what has been keeping this team in so many games. In eight of the teams 12 matches this season they have allowed two goals or less. With the main stays of Colten Walsh (St. Louis, Missouri), Travis Sides (Evansville, Indiana), and Damian McGregor-Wickham (Toronto, Canada), the team has gone seven of their last eight matches allowing two or less. Only recently has the team allowed double digit shots on goal, allowing double digits in their last three matches. The Eagles have been struggling to find that final defender to fit in. Marky Lara (Evansville, Indiana) looked like the man for the job but recently we've seen Head Coach Mat Santoro mix it up with the likes of Aevar Ofjord (Grindavik, Iceland) and Luke Lindsay (Plymouth, Minnesota) getting starts.
 
Junior Alec Meissner (St. Charles, Missouri) has been the main man in goal for the Eagles this season. Meissner has starting in 11 of the 12 games this season. He has allowed 23 goals and has made 47 saves while facing 144 shots. Meissner was also the man in net when USI earned a shutout against the University of Evansville earlier this season. Freshman Giancarlo Varano (Woodbridge, Canada) looked like another one to throw their name in the hat early in the season, starting against Norther Kentucky University and coming on against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Varano has allowed four goals and has made nine saves while facing 20 shots.
 
Summit League
Summit League play continued over the weekend with eight teams in action. Western Illinois earned their first win of the season over Lindenwood, 3-2. Oral Roberts University earned a dominating win over Eastern Illinois, 6-1. The University of Nebraska Omaha was victorious against St. Thomas, 1-0. Denver and the University of Missouri-Kansas City fought their way to a 1-1 draw. Conference play starts on Wednesday this week, as St. Thomas travels to Oral Roberts and USI heads to Denver. There are three matches on Saturday, starting with Eastern Illinois hosting UMKC. The late afternoon game sees Western Illinois heading north to take on St. Thomas. Then it's a battle at the top as Oral Roberts hosts Omaha in the nightcap. USI heads to Lindenwood on Sunday to finish off the conference weekend.
 
Denver Pioneers
The 8th nationally ranked Pioneers come into the match with USI with a 7-2-5, 2-0-2 Summit League, record and have drawn their last three matches, including a matchup with ranked the University of Pittsburgh. Sam Bassett leads Denver this season with five goals and 12 points on the year. Aidan O'Toole leads the team in assists with four. Bassett also leads the team with 24 shots and 16 shots on goal. Isaac Nehme leads the Pioneers in goal, starting 13 out of the teams 14 matches. Nehme has allowed 10 goals this season while making 29 saves on 113 shots faced. Will DeSantis started the other match in net for Denver against St. Thomas, earning a clean sheet and making three saves on three shots faced. Denver is outscoring their opponents 18-10 this season and have allowed just 116 shots compared to taking 170. The Pioneers have also committed the most fouls this year in the Summit League with 185. They have also gone 3/3 from the penalty spot.
 
Lindenwood Lions
Lindenwood comes into the match with USI with a 2-8-1, 1-3-0 Summit League, record after falling to Western Illinois on Saturday, 3-2. The Lions were victorious in their non-conference matchup with the Eagles earlier this season, 2-1. USI took an early lead off a goal from Nick Faddis but Lindenwood took the lead with goals from Anis Smajlovic and Roland Dearborn. Smajlovic leads the team in both goals and assits with three each. He also leads with 20 shots and 13 shots on goal. Meldin Sabotic has started all 11 matches for the Lions this season. He has allowed 25 goals and has made 43 saves while facing 161 shots. Lindenwood is being outscored this year by their opponents 29-11 and outshot 174-96.
 
The Eagles match with Denver can be found on Pioneer All-Access, a paid subscription service, and the match with Lindenwood will be streamed on ESPN+.