EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Southern Indiana Women's Soccer hits the road for the first time in the regular season on Sunday, when the Screaming Eagles visit Purdue University Fort Wayne for a Noon CT kickoff.
 
USI Women's Soccer (0-2-1) heads into its road opener following a season-opening three-match homestand. USI fell to the University of Akron and Middle Tennessee State University after opening the season with a 0-0 draw against Wright State University.
 
Last time out, the Screaming Eagles narrowly fell to Akron, 2-1. After a scoreless first half, Akron struck first in the second half before USI quickly answered with a penalty-kick goal by junior defender Emma Schut, the first goal of the season for USI. Akron went on to score the game-winning goal inside the final 10 minutes. USI outshot Akron 18-9 overall and 10-6 in shots on goal.
 
Individually, sophomore midfielder Olivia Hass paced the Screaming Eagles with four shots and three on goal. Four others recorded multiple shot attempts in the match. Freshman midfielder Liza Anderson, junior defender Ava Hess, and junior forward Josie Pochocki each had two shots with a shot on target.
 
Overall, graduate forward Payton Seymour is USI's leading shot taker of the season with seven shots through three matches. Pochocki is right behind with six shots taken. Hass tops the squad with four shots on goal in five total shot attempts.
 
Between the posts, sophomore goalkeeper Merrick Schwalbach has 11 total saves this season, including four in the last match against Akron, with a 1.33 GAA and one clean sheet on the season log.
 
Purdue Fort Wayne (0-1-0) opens its home slate after a season-opening 7-1 loss last Sunday to Purdue University, which comes to USI next Sunday, August 30. After facing a 6-0 halftime deficit to Purdue, the Mastodons matched the Boilermakers 1-1 in the second half.
 
The shot difference favored Purdue 31-4 overall and 20-2 in shots on goal. Senior midfielder Kailey Hansen scored off an assist by senior forward Morgan Gallagher in the second half for the 'Dons. In goal, senior goalkeeper Madison Ott and junior keeper Sam Christie split halves, with Ott making eight saves in starting the first half and Christie grabbing five saves in the second half.
 
The all-time series between USI and Purdue Fort Wayne is tied 3-3, with USI winning last season's meeting in Evansville, 6-1. In last year's matchup, USI's six goals marked a program best since USI made the jump to Division I in 2022 and the most scored in a single game since 2019. Five different Screaming Eagles scored a goal in the win. Highlighting the goal-scoring was Pochocki, who not only scored her first career goal but also recorded her first career brace with two goals in the contest.
 
Sunday's match can be seen with a subscription to ESPN+. Live stats and additional coverage are available at usiscreamingeagles.com.