EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The University of Southern Indiana Men's Soccer continues their three-match homestand as they welcome in Chicago State University on Saturday, September 24th. Kickoff is set for 6pm from Strassweg Field and you can catch the action on ESPN+.
 
This will be the. Middle match of the three match homestand, the Screaming Eagles will close the homestand with their Summit League opener against the University of Missouri-Kansas City on September 28th.
 
The Eagles dominated Lindenwood University in their most recent match. USI played incredibly in the first half, going into halftime 0-0. They then carried the momentum into the second half, scoring 42 seconds in after a header from Nick Faddis (St. Louis, Missouri). Faddis scored after Dan Hartman (Seymour, Indiana) played a through ball to Will Kirchhofer (Fishers, Indiana) who lofted a cross towards the far post for Faddis to put it away. The Lions came away lucky with their first goal, scoring a penalty after USI was called for a handball inside the box. The Lions then took the lead after their keeper booted a ball towards midfield and a through ball was headed forward and the USI defense just couldn't recover in time. The Eagles had the chance to retake the lead in the 71st minute after Jackson Mitchell (Newburgh, Indiana) had a deflected shot rolling towards the goal but Lindenwood was able to clear it at the line.
 
The USI defense has been one of the brightest aspects for the program this season. As a team their opponents have a 0.190 shots percentage against the Eagles. Putting this shot percentage into perspective, the team with the lowest shot percentage in NCAA Division I this season has a 0.273. The USI defense has been putting on spectacular displays this season. With the return of Travis Sides (Evansville, Indiana), who missed the Lindenwood match due to injury, the Eagles will look to return to their normal starting defense as he joins Colten Walsh (St. Louis, Missouri) in the middle, Damian McGregor-Wickham (Toronto, Canada) on the left, and Marky Lara (Evansville, Indiana) on the right.
 
Alec Meissner (St. Charles, Missouri) has been holding it down in goal for the Eagles this season, and recently has been showing out. In his last three outings he's allowed just three goals while making 10 saves on 32 shots faced. Of those three goals, one of which was a penalty from a handball. That was only the third penalty conceded by the Eagles in the last three seasons, and only the second time it has been converted. With the help of his defensive line, Meissner has been looking spectacular in goal for USI and if he continues to play well, it is going to lead to that first victory of the season.
 
USI has been spectacular this season in the first 45 minutes of every match. In those first 45 minutes the Eagles have allowed just three goals while also scoring two. However, for USI it's the second half that starts to get to them and the endurance from the opposition has prevailed. USI has allowed 13 goals in the second half this season, seven of those have come in the final 30 minutes of the match. A lot of those have come in matches that the Eagles had great opportunities to win. Early on against Northern Kentucky University, the Norse took the lead with 22 minutes to play, after USI had already had a 2-0 lead. In the first home match of the season again against the University of Wisconsin-Green bay, all three goals of the Phoenix scored were after that 60th minute mark. Recently against Bradley, the Eagles played fantastic until the Braves were able to score in the 68th minute. Against Lindenwood, the Lions did not take the lead until the 86th minute. This team has played well all season long but it's having to find a way to close out games as well as take the lead in those games as well. It's showed that the Eagles have been paying close attention to this in their last three matches and they'll have an opportunity to prove themselves as they finish off non-conference play on Saturday before opening Summit League play on September 28th.
 
Chicago State Cougars
Chicago State comes into the match with USI after picking up their first win of the season las week against Summit League member University of St. Thomas, 4-2. The Cougars will play at the University of Notre Dame on Wednesday before coming to Evansville. Chicago State is being led this year by Danail Sergiev who leads the team with five goals. Nial Reid-Stephen is the only other cougar with multiple goals with three, he also leads the team in assists with two, and shots, with 25. Marco Seyfert leads the team in net this year, starting all seven matches. Seyfert has allowed 15 goals on 82 shots faced and has made 26 saves.
 
The match with Chicago State can be found on ESPN+ and live stats can be found online at usiscreamingeagles.com.