EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer hosts Western Illinois University Sunday at 1 p.m. from Strassweg Field to close the regular season. On Sunday, USI will also celebrate Senior Day before the match.
 
During Sunday's Senior Day ceremonies, USI will recognize goalkeeper Zoe Lintner, midfielder Maggie Duggan, midfielder Adriana Berruti, defender Sophia Finol, defender Brooke Coleman, and manager Maddy Baum.
 
Southern Indiana (4-8-5, 3-2-3 OVC) seeks to finish the regular season with its fourth consecutive positive result and third win in the final four matches of the Ohio Valley Conference season. USI already clinched its third consecutive berth in the OVC tournament.
 
Entering Sunday's tilt, USI heads in with 12 points and can finish as high as the No. 3 seed or as low as the No. 6 seed. Western Illinois (1-13-1, 1-6-1 OVC) sits at the bottom of the conference standings with four points, but the Leathernecks could earn a berth with a win and losses from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Southeast Missouri State University.
 
The Screaming Eagles picked up a 1-1 draw in dramatic fashion in their road finale last Sunday at SIUE. The Cougars scored first in the 24th minute and led until late in the second half. Despite being down to 10 players in the final stretch of the match, USI scored a game-tying goal with two minutes remaining. USI sophomore defender Kamryn Bea scored the goal, which was a career first. The road tie was the Eagles' second result this season when trailing at the half.
 
The Screaming Eagles have gone 2-0-1 in the last three matches and have been playing some of their best soccer, especially defensively. Before the first-half goal scored by SIUE in the last outing, USI had a defensive scoreless streak of over 200 minutes after earning shutouts in the previous two matches. Offensively, Southern Indiana has scored in all but one OVC match, and in two of the last results, USI has found the back of the net despite tallying single-digit shot attempts.
 
Following Bea's goal at SIUE, 10 USI players have scored a goal this season with six players having scored twice on the year. The last time USI had 10 or more different Eagles score a goal was in 2021, and 2020 was the last season USI had at least six players score multiple times. Sophomore midfielder Pilar Torres and junior midfielder Emerson Grafton pace USI with nine points off two goals and five assists. Their five helpers, including three in conference play, are tied among the top three in the OVC.
 
Heading into Sunday, Western Illinois has dropped four straight contests. The Leathernecks' only results this season came against SIUE and Southeast Missouri. Last Sunday, Western Illinois fell in a 3-1 decision against Tennessee Tech University.
 
Western Illinois has found the back of the net an OVC-low six times this season on 84 shots and 37 shots on goal, which are also the fewest in the OVC. Junior forward Callie McMurtrey and senior attacker Rachel Balinao have registered three points each on a goal and an assist this season. Balinao scored the Leathernecks' goal in the last game against Tennessee Tech.
 
Sunday's match is the fourth all-time meeting between Southern Indiana and Western Illinois. The Leathernecks lead the all-time series 2-1-0. Western Illinois won the first two meetings in the series history before USI won 1-0 at Western Illinois last season in 2023. Junior midfielder Peyton Murphy scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in last year's meeting.
 
Sunday's game can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Additional coverage links are available on the USI Women's Soccer schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.