EVANSVILLE, Ind.- University of Southern Indiana Men's Soccer has announced its schedule for the upcoming 2026 season.
 
The Screaming Eagles enter their fifth season competing at the Division I level, and their fourth in the Ohio Valley Conference. USI is coming off a 2-10-5 (1-4-5 OVC) campaign, which saw the program's longest unbeaten streak since 2019 at five games. The season was highlighted by a 4-1 home win over the eventual OVC runner-up Houston Christian University.
 
Southern Indiana returns 19 players from 2025, including the team's leader in assists, sophomore Tony Murphy, and an OVC Offensive Player of the Week winner in sophomore Edin Cvorovic. As a whole, the Eagles are set to return 50 percent of the team's offensive production from a year ago.
 
2026 will mark the first year at USI for head coach Mads Kaiser, who joins the team after three seasons as head coach at Saint Francis University. Kaiser had a cumulative record of 22-16-11, including the program's only unbeaten regular season in 2023, where the Red Flash went 7-0-8, and he nabbed the Northeast Conference Coach of the Year.

"We are excited about the challenges this schedule brings and the opportunities it gives our group to grow," said Kaiser. "It is a competitive slate that will test us early and prepare us for conference play. We cannot wait to get started!"

The Eagles open the regular season with a two-game road trip through the Horizon League, starting with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on August 20, before traveling to a former Great Lakes Valley Conference foe, Northern Kentucky University, on August 24.

USI hosts Indiana University Indianapolis for the team's home opener on September 2, then brings Bellarmine University back to Strassweg Field for the first time since the 2024 season on September 8.
 
The team then begins a four-game road trip, opening against Big East opponent Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 9. Following that contest, the Eagles continue their road swing with the fifth annual Mayor's Cup against the University of Evansville on September 15.
 
The road trip continues with a stop in Nashville, Tennessee, to take on the Bruins of Belmont University on September 18 in the non-conference finale. USI closes out the road trip with the OVC opener, September 26, at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville.
 
The Eagles then return to Strassweg on October 1 against Eastern Illinois University before opening a three-game road trip with a game at Western Illinois University on October 4. 
 
USI then travels to the Lone Star State for matchups against Houston Christian (October 8) and the University of the Incarnate Word (October 11). Following the trip, Southern Indiana prepares for the longest homestand of the season, opening with a matchup against the newest OVC team, the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on October 15.
 
The Eagles then host a pair of familiar foes in Lindenwood University (October 18) and SIUE (October 24), before traveling once again for the road finale against Eastern Illinois on October 29. The team closes out the regular season with a home matchup against Western Illinois on November 1.

Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Eagles will look to compete in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in St. Charles, Missouri, which opens on November 8 and runs through November 14.