EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer continues its non-conference schedule Thursday at 7 p.m. when the Screaming Eagles make their home debut from Strassweg Field against Robert Morris University.
In addition to USI's home-opening match, Thursday will be Dorm Room Wars presented by Archie's Army and USI Residence Life at the field. The USI dorm room with the most students at Thursday's match will receive a free pizza party. Plus, the first 100 students will receive a free ice cream sandwich.
Thursday's matchup is the first all-time meeting between Robert Morris (1-0) and USI (0-1). Additionally, Robert Morris will be the second of three consecutive contests to start the season that USI will face an opponent for the first time in program history.
Southern Indiana is coming off a 3-0 defeat in the season opener last Sunday at Arkansas State University. The Screaming Eagles showcased a strong effort while facing some adversity. Despite some good looks early in the game for USI, Arkansas State broke through and grabbed momentum in the middle of the game and did not look back. USI sophomore midfielder
Pilar Torres (Chula Vista, California) had three of Southern Indiana's 11 shots in the match. Redshirt sophomore
Anna Markland (Hoover, Alabama) finished with six saves in goal.
Other notable performances last Sunday include senior midfielder
Maggie Duggan (Defiance, Missouri), who played 82 minutes and had a shot on goal in the first 20 minutes, and sophomore defender
Kamryn Bea (O'Fallon, Missouri), who also played 82 minutes at left-back after making a handful of starts during her freshman season in 2023. Junior defender
Charli Grafton (Sunriver, Oregon) was the only Screaming Eagle next to Markland to play the full 90 minutes at Arkansas State.
Robert Morris, projected to place sixth in the 2024 Horizon Preseason Poll, started its season with a 5-0 home win over Le Moyne College last week. The Colonials scored two first-half goals and three tallies in the second half. Robert Morris had 15 shots compared to Le Moyne's six. Junior defender Emerson Johngarlo led the Colonials with a pair of goals in 90 minutes played. Junior forward Malia Kearns scored a goal and recorded an assist, while freshman forward Madison Hurst notched two helpers toward the win. Johngarlo and Hurst were recognized by the Horizon League this week by earning the defensive and offensive player of the week honors, respectively.
Last season, Robert Morris went 12-5-3 with a 5-4-1 mark in the Horizon League. The Colonials found the back of the net 39 times in 2023, averaging 1.95 goals per contest. Robert Morris also fired away nearly 15 shots per match while placing over 54 percent of its attempts on goal. Robert Morris had three players top the squad with seven goals in 2023, two returning this season in Kearns and junior forward Renae Mohrbacher. Between the posts, graduate senior Brenna Murray started all 20 matches last season, posting a 1.21 goals against average with 80 saves and four shutouts. Murray made two saves in last week's shutout against Le Moyne.
Thursday's 7 p.m. match can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Additional coverage links are available on the USI Women's Soccer schedule page on usiscreamingeagles.com.
