CHICAGO (Sept. 12, 2022) — Seeking a fourth straight home win, the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team (3-0-2) will host IUPUI (1-1-3) at 6 p.m. Tuesday night in non-conference action. The Ramblers are looking to remain unbeaten and build momentum heading into the Atlantic 10 Conference opener this weekend.
 
Last Time Out
Loyola continued its hot start after it dispatched DePaul 3-1 last Friday in the annual Red Line Rivalry match, thanks to a pair of goals scored by graduate student forward Fabian Becerra. Each of Loyola's three victories and all the Ramblers' eight goals scored this season have been recorded at Loyola Soccer Park. Becerra gave the Ramblers a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute and redshirt senior midfielder Billy Hency made it 2-0 shortly after halftime. The teams traded goals later as Becerra notched the second brace of his career. Hency and sophomore forward John Gates each logged two assists, along with senior midfielder Oscar Dueso who provided one helper. Senior goalkeeper Simon Jillson collected one save and surrendered just the second goal in over 437 minutes between the pipes this season.
 
Home Cookin'
Loyola Soccer Park has become a challenging place to play for men's soccer opponents over recent years. Since the start of the 2018 season, the Ramblers hold a record of 24-6-4 (.765) in home matches played at Loyola Soccer Park. Going back to the 2014 season, Loyola has earned a point in 80% of the matches played in its home stadium, posting an overall record of 47-9-10. Impressively, the Ramblers went undefeated at Loyola Soccer Park in three straight seasons from 2014 to 2016 (20-0-4). Tomorrow night, Loyola will seek its fourth straight home win, which would mark the the Ramblers' longest streak since winning five home matches in a row last season.
 
Glance at IUPUI
Under first-year head coach Sid van Druenen, IUPUI enters Tuesday's match with a record of 1-1-3. After leading 2-0 in their Horizon League opener, the Jaguars came away with a point last Saturday in a 2-2 draw at Wright State. Redshirt-freshman forward Josemir Gomez and junior midfielder Lukas Hackaa scored in a span of minutes. IUPUI played a man down over the final 20-plus minutes after a straight red card. The Jaguars' lone win was a 5-1 home result against Eastern Illinois. Seven different players have scored a goal for the Jaguars this season, led by Gomez with four and Hackaa with three. Junior goalkeeper Lucas Morefield has started four of five matches with a 1-1-2 ledger, posting 15 saves with eight goals allowed. Morefield and Loyola's Billy Hency were high school teammates, where they led Rockwood Summit (Mo.) to a state title.
 
Series Stuff
Tuesday's match will mark just the fourth meeting between Loyola and IUPUI in series tied at 1-1-1. The Ramblers claimed the first meeting 5-1 at home during the 1998 campaign. The two sides played to a scoreless draw in 2003, hosted in DeKalb, and the Jaguars won a high-scoring affair the following year by a final score of 6-3, in a match played in Bowling Green, Ohio.
 
Up Next
Loyola will raise the curtain on conference play this weekend when it travels to Pittsburgh for a Saturday match at Duquesne – which marks the first Atlantic 10 match in program history. The Dukes, who are 5-0 for the first time, travel to Wright State on Tuesday and will be the second team in a row the Ramblers play after the opponent goes up against the Raiders.