EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Men's Soccer heads back on the road after finishing their three-match homestand on Wednesday. The Screaming Eagles will travel to Charleston, Illinois to take on Summit League opponent Eastern Illinois University on Saturday, October 1 with a 2pm kickoff. USI then travels to take on Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky on October 4 with a 6pm (CDT) kickoff.
 
The Eagles had a very strong defensive showing in the first half of their conference opener with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, going into halftime with a 0-0 score line and allowed just four shots in the first half. The Roos came out quickly in the second half, scoring just two minutes in. The Eagles defense stepped up afterwards and continued to make it a tough fight, but UMKC was able to put the match away and make it the final 2-0 lead. Zach Barton (St. Louis, Missouri) led the way for USI offensively, having two shots and two shots on goal. Goalkeeper Alec Meissner (St. Charles, Missouri) finished the match with two goals allowed and three saves on 10 shots faced.
 
One of the keys that USI will have to focus on going into the match with Eastern Illinois will definitely be their offense. This season Eastern Illinois has the third highest goals allowed average in the Summit League with 2.57 GAA. The Panthers also allow the most shots per game out of anyone in the conference, allowing 23 shots per game, over seven shots more than the next team. If the Eagles defense continues to play the way they have, they have an incredible chance against EIU. USI has allowed the second least shots per game allowed this season with 11.8 in their nine matches. Both teams are very similar offensively, with USI averaging 6.81 shots per game and EIU averaging six shots per game. Both teams are also towards the bottom in goals scored, the Eagles have scored six goals this season while the Panthers have scored four.
 
The Eagles offense has had its struggles this season. They have only had double digit shots in a match once, 10 against Bradley University, and their most shots on goal this season was five against Chicago State. The Eagles have only scored six goals this season and have only had one match where they score more than once, scoring twice against Northern Kentucky University early in the season. USI has had five different players score this season while Nick Faddis (St. Louis, Missouri) is the lone player with multiple goals with two. There have also been four players to record an assist this season while Faddis and Dan Hartman (Seymour, Indiana) each have two of the six assists. Barton leads the way in shots this season with 13 and in shots on goal with eight but has only scored one goal.
 
Meissner has been the main man in goal for the Eagles this season. He has started in eight out the teams nine games this season, allowing 15 goals on 86 shots faced while making 22 saves. Meissner has been getting a lot of help from his defensive line. Colten Walsh (St. Louis, Missouri) and Damian McGregor-Wickham (Toronto, Canada) have started all nine matches for the Eagles and have both played big roles for USI. Travis Sides (Evansville, Indiana) and Marky Lara (Evansville, Indiana) have also been regular playmakers in the USI defense while we also saw Aevar Ofjord (Grindavik, Iceland) make his first appearance against UMKC.
 
Summit League Play
The Summit League continued conference play on Wednesday night. UMKC took down USI 2-0 to improve to 2-0 in conference play while USI fell to 0-1 in their conference opener. Oral Roberts University took down Lindenwood University 3-1 to go to 1-1 on the short conference season while Lindenwood goes to 0-2. Summit League play continues on Saturday, October 1. UMKC travels to Western Illinois University trying to stay undefeated. USI and Eastern Illinois both look for their first conference win. The University of Denver and the University of Nebraska Omaha battle in Omaha, Nebraska to see who will stay undefeated. The University of St. Thomas and Oral Roberts finish off the day with a night cap in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
 
Eastern Illinois Panthers
Eastern Illinois goes into the match with USI 1-5-1, 0-1-0 Summit League, after falling in their conference opener last Saturday to St. Thomas, 2-0. The Panthers are being led this season by Sam Eccles with two goals, he also leads with 10 shots and four shots on goal. Eccles and two other Panthers are tied with three assists each. Julian Smith and Delphy Sabu have the other two goals for EIU. Chad Smith has been the main man in goal for the Panthers, playing in all seven matches, allowing 16 goals. EIU has faced 161 shots and have allowed 18 goals while scoring four. This season, the Panthers are allowing 2.57 goals per game as well as 23 shots per game. On the offensive end, EIU averages 0.57 goals per game and six shots per game.
 
Bellarmine Knights
Bellarmine hosts their former conference rival in USI on Tuesday, October 4 with a 6pm (CDT) kickoff. The knights will host Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday before the Eagles come to town. Bellarmine is 4-3-1, 1-2-0 ASUN, this season and took down conference foe Jacksonville University last Saturday, 1-0. Nolan McGrath leads the Knights in goals this season with four and is the only one of six goal scorers for Bellarmine to score more than once. Jack Fischer leads the team with two of the teams seven assists. Chris Shust leads the team in shots, 13, while Cooper Forcellini leads the team in shots on goal with seven. Matthew Brozovich has started seven of the eight matches in goal for the Knights, allowing 10 goals while making 22 saves on 74 shots faced. Bellarmine is very similar offensively and defensively, averaging 1.13 goals per game and allowing 1.25 goals per game. They are also very close in average shots, offensively averaging 9.5 and allowing 10.4 shots per game.