CHICAGO (October 29, 2019) - The Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team (8-3-3, 3-1-3 MVC) will play its final home match of the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 30 against the Evansville Purple Aces. The Ramblers enter a pivotal stretch with three matches left on the schedule. If Loyola wins two of its final three games it will guarantee a second seed in the MVC Tournament, potentially earning an opening round bye. Loyola Soccer Park will play host to the MVC Tournament, where the Ramblers are 37-8-10 since the start of the Neil Jones era in 2013.
Last Time Out: The Ramblers played to a 3-3 draw against Drake on Senior Day Sunday afternoon at Loyola Soccer Park. Loyola scored three goals in seven minutes to claim a 3-2 lead in the 84th minute, but Drake found the equalizer which sent the teams into overtime. The Ramblers took advantage in shot opportunities, 24-15 and shots on goal, 12-7. Billy Hency, Justin Sukow and Aidan Megally each found the back of the net in the tie. Megally now holds Loyola's record for shots in a season with 55, beating the previous record of 51 set in 1980 by Tom Sheehy.
vs. Evansville: Led by head coach Marshall Ray in his fifth season at Evansville, the Purple Aces currently sit at 2-11-1 ahead of Wednesday night's match-up at Loyola Soccer Park. Evansville hasn't won a match since Sept. 14 and has yet to win a conference match this season. On Saturday, Evansville put up a fight against 10th-ranked Missouri State, but fell to the undefeated Bears, 2-1. Redshirt freshman Jakub Hall found the back of the net in the second half to mark his first collegiate goal. Leading the Purple Aces in points this season is senior Jesse Stafford-Lacey, who has registered four goals and one assist. The Purple Aces were picked fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference Pre-season Poll following a 4-8-7 campaign (2-2-2 MVC) in 2018.
Series Stuff: Loyola and Evansville will meet for the 24th time on Wednesday night. The two programs last met on Sept. 18, 2019 as the Ramblers defeated the Purple Aces, 2-1. Liam Moore and Justin Sukow tallied goals for the Ramblers, who have won their last two matches over UE.
Up Next: Loyola is back on the road for its two final matches of the season against Missouri State and Valparaiso. The Ramblers will face Missouri State on Sunday Nov. 3 at 1pm and Valpo on Saturday Nov. 9 at 7pm.
