EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer opens a three-match homestand on Thursday when the Screaming Eagles host Eastern Michigan for a 1 p.m. contest at Strassweg Field.
 
Admission to Thursday's home match and all 2025 USI Soccer regular-season home games is free courtesy of ProRehab. Thursday's match can also be seen with a subscription to ESPN+.
 
Thursday will be USI's second home game of the season. USI last played at home on August 17, falling 2-0 to Cleveland State University. Thursday's home game will be the first meeting between USI (0-4-0) and Eastern Michigan (0-2-0).
 
Last time out, the Screaming Eagles snapped a scoreless dry spell to start the season after putting up three goals on the road at the University of Akron on Sunday. However, USI wrapped up its brief two-game road trip with a 5-3 loss to the Zips.
 
In Sunday's game, redshirt sophomore Eva Boer scored the first goal of the season in the 19^th minute. Freshman defender Tierney Mullady scored her first career goal in the 32^nd minute, and senior forward Peyton Murphy tallied her first goal of the season with a strike from 30-plus yards out in the 52^nd minute.
 
On Tuesday, Boer was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week after scoring the goal at Akron and leading USI with five shots and two on goal between the two matches last week. It was Boer's first career weekly honor.
 
The Screaming Eagles were due for a scoring breakthrough heading into last Sunday's game at Akron, as USI has been shooting at a high volume over the previous few matches. USI has outshot its opponents this season with a 52-32 advantage over the last three outings. The Eagles have registered 14 or more shots in each of the previous three games, averaging just over 17 shots per game during that stretch. In USI's previous appearance at Strassweg Field against Cleveland State, the team registered 21 shots against the Vikings.
 
Individually, senior forward Emerson Grafton paces the Eagles with 11 shots, and graduate midfielder Maggie Duggan is second with nine shot attempts. Both rank inside the top 10 in the OVC through two weeks of action. Boer and Murphy are tied for third on the team with seven shots. Murphy tops the squad with three shots on goal.
 
Eastern Michigan heads into Thursday's afternoon clash seeking its first goal and its first result of the season. EMU opened its season with back-to-back home losses, falling 4-0 to the University of Cincinnati and 1-0 against the University of Illinois Chicago in the last game last Thursday.
 
The EMU Eagles are led offensively by sophomore Ciara Brown, who has half of the team's shots and shots on goal this season, with six total attempts and three on target. Between the posts, redshirt junior goalkeeper Ella Holland has started both matches and has nine saves on 28 shots faced.
 
Last year, Eastern Michigan went 7-6-5 overall and 3-3-5 in Mid-American Conference play. EMU was picked ninth in the 2025 MAC Preseason Poll.
 
After Thursday's game, USI will welcome Southern Illinois University to Strassweg Field on Sunday for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Salukis. The homestand concludes next Thursday, September 4, when Valparaiso University comes to visit the Screaming Eagles.