EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer returns to Strassweg Field Sunday at 1 p.m. against the University of Arkansas-Little Rock for another home Ohio Valley Conference matchup. Admission to the match is free thanks to The Women's Hospital Deaconess.
USI (3-4-2, 0-2-0 OVC) hopes to get back on track against the Trojans (4-4-2, 1-1-0 OVC) Sunday afternoon. The Screaming Eagles are coming off a 4-0 home loss on Thursday against Tennessee Tech University. A result on Sunday would snap a three-match losing skid for USI.
After Tennessee Tech grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 29
th minute Thursday, the momentum of the match seemed to swing back toward Southern Indiana in the waning minutes of the first half. After a long throw-in by freshman midfielder
Emma Thurston (Leawood, Kansas), the Tennessee Tech defense struggled to clear the ball out of their defensive box. The ball ended up at the feet of sophomore midfielder
Adriana Berruti (Berwyn, Illinois), who played the ball back to freshman midfielder
Peyton Murphy (Bargersville, Indiana). Murphy took the one-time shot, but it was saved by the goalkeeper. Tennessee Tech ended up scoring three of their four goals in the second half.
The Screaming Eagles are seeking to jumpstart the offense once again and snap a scoreless drought of just over 293 minutes. In their last three matches, opponents are outshooting USI 43-19 and 20-10 in shots on goal. USI is looking for their first goal since their 2-0 win at Chicago State on September 9. A goal on Sunday would also be USI's first at home since a 4-0 win on August 25 against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Murphy leads the team with five goals, 12 points, 18 shots, and 13 shots on goal. In the OVC, Murphy's 12 points (1.33 per game) and five goals (0.56 per game) rank first, while her 18 shots (1.89 per game) rank fourth.
In goal, senior keeper
Maya Etienne (Midland, Michigan) has registered 34 saves and four shutouts in nine matches. With 270 career saves, she is six away from tying fourth all-time on USI's all-time saves list. She has a 0.79 goals against average and 0.829 save percentage.
Little Rock is 4-4-2 this season, including a 1-3-1 record on the road. The Trojans are coming off a 2-1 home win against the University of Tennessee at Martin on Thursday. Little Rock is led in goals scored with two each by freshman midfielder Amaya Arias, sophomore defender Abbie Smith, and redshirt junior Mari Young. Freshman goalkeeper Peyton Urban has seen most of the action in goal for the Trojans, making nine out of ten starts. She has posted 33 saves, 0.70 goals against average, and a .846 save percentage. Urban also has five shutouts. Little Rock is also in its first season in the Ohio Valley Conference, going 7-7-6 overall and 3-4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference in the 2021 season.
The match can be seen live with an ESPN+ subscription.
USI fans can stay up-to-date with the latest at usiscreamingeagles.com or follow USI Athletics on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
