Sept. 16, 2011

Box Score

PEORIA, Ill. - In their first match at the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic in Peoria, Ill., the Loyola men's soccer team fell to Evansville 4-0 in regulation. The Ramblers drop to 1-4-1 on the season, while the Purple Aces improve to 3-2-0.

The match was an intense offensive effort for the Ramblers as Loyola finished with 13 shots, 10 of those being on goal. Unfortunately, the Ramblers were unable to capitalize on their shots as Evansville Eric Teppen was on fire, stopping all 10 shots on goal to shutout the Ramblers.

Loyola's defense was able to fend off the Purple Aces until 36:22 when Jesse Sharp collected soft clearance and sent a bullet from 22 yards out, deflecting off of the left post and in.

Evansville found the net again at the 41:18 mark to send the Purple Aces into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Patrick Hodges scored off of an assist from Joel Nash when the Rambler goalie lost control of a save and caused a loose ball in the box.

The second half showed an even stronger front from the Rambler defense, who came out of intermission with a renewed energy. However, that energy did not last the entire half as the final two goals of the match were scored in the final three minutes. First Ryan Stallings snuck in slider on a breakaway at 87:36. Then, just over a minute later, Stallings found the back of the net again to set the final score at 4-0.

Junior Eric Nock and freshman Brian Bement played phenomenal for the front line. Each tallied three shots, all on target. Kyle Spoo launched two shots (both on goal) while James Howe also finished with two shots. Reed Patterson, Justin Koehler, and Eric Marofskeadded a shot a piece to round out the team total.

Peter McKeownearned the post of starting goalkeeper and stayed in the net for all of regulation. McKeown ended the match with five saves and took the loss to fall 0-3-1 on the season.

Loyola will face tournament host Bradley on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CST in the final match of the Hotels at Grand Prairie Classic.