2019 Men’s Soccer Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 219.771.7504 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 2019 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (4-12-1, 3-7-0 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result Aug. 30 at Green Bay T 1-1 at Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Sept. 2 IU Northwest W 8-2 Loyola Soccer Complex | Chicago, Ill. Sept. 6 at UIC L 5-1 Wednesday, Nov. 13, 1 p.m. CT – vs. Drake (7-8-1, 4-5-1 MVC) Sept. 13 at SMU L 6-0 Friday, Nov. 15, 1 p.m. CT – vs. No. 10 Missouri State (16-0-0, 10-0-0 MVC) Sept. 15 at Oral Roberts L 2-1 (2ot) Sunday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m. CT – MVC Championship Sept. 18 at Missouri State* L 3-1 This Week in Valpo Soccer: From the time the season kicked off, Valparaiso University Sept. 22 Evansville* W 2-1 men’s soccer coach Mike Avery has emphasized the importance of building toward a Sept. 25 Drake* L 2-0 winning week in November. With all six Missouri Valley Conference teams qualifying for Oct. 1 Bradley* L 2-1 (2ot) the league tournament this year, the team’s focus has been on making strides throughout Oct. 5 at SIU Edwardsville L 3-0 the year to be playing its best soccer come tournament time. The weeks of preparation Oct. 12 at Loyola* L 2-0 are in the books, and the test comes this week in Rogers Park, starting with a first-round Oct. 19 at Milwaukee L 2-0 tournament date with Drake on Wednesday afternoon at the Loyola Soccer Complex. Oct. 23 at Drake * W 3-1 Sept. 27 at Bradley* L 1-0 Previously: Valpo honored six seniors prior to Saturday’s regular-season finale at Brown Oct. 30 #9 Missouri State* L 3-2 (ot) Field, a 3-0 defeat to Loyola. The Ramblers found the back of the net twice in the final Nov. 3 at Evansville* W 1-0 five minutes of the first half, a stretch that played a key role in the game’s outcome. Nov. 9 Loyola* L 3-0 Jorn-Jan van de Beld got the start at the goalkeeper spot and collected seven saves. Nov. 13 vs. Drake# 1 p.m. Loyola held a narrow 10-7 edge in the shot count. Nov. 15 vs. No. 10 Missouri State# 1 p.m. Nov. 17 MVC Championship# 1 p.m. Following Valpo: All MVC Tournament matches will air on ESPN+ with links to live video and stats available on ValpoAthletics.com. Wednesday’s match will feature the All times Central. on-air team of Sean Wheelock (play-by-play) and Ty Keough (analyst), while Kyle Home matches in bold and played at Brown Field. Peach (play-by-play) will join Keough on Friday and Sunday. * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference match # - indicates MVC Tournament Head Coach Mike Avery: In his 13th season at the helm of the Valpo men’s soccer (Loyola Soccer Complex) program, Mike Avery owns a program-record 91 career victories. Under Avery’s guid- ance, the team has been a stellar defensive side, as nine of the top 10 defensive seasons Missouri Valley Conference in program history have come during his tenure. Avery has led the program to a new standard in his time as head coach, as a team that had enjoyed just one winning season Standings in the 24 years prior to his arrival has finished above the .500 mark six times in the last Team MVC Overall decade. He has also seen numerous players go on to play professional soccer, including Missouri State 10-0-0 (30) 16-0-0 active pros Zev Taublieb, Kyle Zobeck, Stefan Antonijevic, Jordan Aidoud, Rafael Loyola 5-2-3 (18) 10-4-3 Mentzingen, Nacho Miras, Ramone Howell, Matthew King, Jordan Simon, Hamid Bradley 5-3-2 (17) 7-6-4 Babaali and Lucca Lacerda. Avery shattered the program record with his 77th career Drake 4-5-1 (13) 7-8-1 victory on Sept. 16, 2017 at Drake. He reached 77 victories in his 195th career match, Valparaiso 3-7-0 (9) 4-12-1 while previous recordholder Mis’ Mrak needed 288 matches to accumulate 76 wins. Evansville 0-10-0 (0) 2-14-1 Third Time’s A Charm?: Since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley Conference, tourna- ment time has meant one thing: a first-round matchup with the Drake Bulldogs. The two teams will square off in the first round of the event for the third consecutive season on Wednesday, with the Brown & Gold hoping that this year will provide a more favorable result than either of the first two seasons. Valpo’s maiden voyage in The Valley in 2017 ended with a 4-2 defeat to the Bulldogs in a game played at Bradley, while last year saw Drake prevail in a first-round meeting as Steven Enna’s golden goal in the 105th minute lifted the team to a 2-1 victory. The last two years are the first time in the history of Valpo’s program that the season has ended with a conference-tournament defeat to @VUMSO the same team in consecutive seasons. #oneVALPO Back in Rogers Park: Valpo has played a conference tournament game at Loyola before, taking on the Ramblers in a campus-site first-round Horizon League Championship matchup back in 2008. The hosts prevailed 4-1. In total, the program has played 15 matches at Loyola, seven of which have come since Mike Avery took over the program 2019 Men’s Soccer Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 219.771.7504 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 in 2007. The Loyola Soccer Complex was the site of Valpo’s first ever Missouri Valley Valpo When... Conference match, a 2-1 victory on Sept. 1, 2017 against a nationally-ranked Ramblers At home 2-4-0 side that was the defending conference champion. That snapped a 24-match home unbeaten On the road 2-8-1 streak for Loyola. Neutral site 0-0-0 Series Notes – Drake: The two teams that will match up in the opening round split the During the day 2-5-0 regular-season meetings, with each side invading the other’s home pitch and coming away At night (5 p.m. or later local) 2-7-1 with a two-goal victory. Valpo was on the wrong end of a 2-0 score on Sept. 25 at Brown Field, before leveling the season set with a 3-1 win on Oct. 23 in West Des Moines. Valpo Scoring first 2-2-1 is 3-5-1 all-time against Drake in a series that goes back to 1995. Opponent scores first 2-10-0 Scouting the Bulldogs: Head coach Gareth Smith’s squad enters the tournament as the No. Playing overtime 0-3-1 4 seed, set to battle fifth-seeded Valpo for the right to take on top-seeded Missouri State. The Bulldogs are led by Leroy Ensuguzi, who posted seven goals and 16 points during the regular Leading at halftime 2-2-1 season, pacing the team in both areas. Goalkeeper Luke Anderson has made 41 saves and Trailing at halftime 1-8-0 owns a 1.57 goals against average. Drake was picked to finish third in the preseason poll. Tied at halftime 1-2-0 Scouting the Bears: Should Valpo top Drake in the opening round, the team will advance Outshooting opponents 3-1-0 to battle Missouri State, which finished the regular season as the nation’s only unbeaten and Outshot by opponents 1-11-1 untied team. The Bears are ranked 10th nationally as of the Nov. 5 United Soccer Coaches Tied in Shots 0-0-0 poll. Matthew Bently has 13 goals and 30 points to lead the team, while Josh Dolling owns six goals and a team-high five assists. Stuart Wilkin is another key contributor with five Scoring fewer than two goals 1-11-1 goals and four assists to his credit. Goalkeeper Michael Creek has made 32 saves and has Scoring two or more goals 3-1-0 an 0.63 GAA. Success vs. The Best: Valpo came within five minutes of adding to the program’s history of beating Top 25 opponents on Wednesday, Oct. 30 against then No. 9 Missouri State, the only undefeated and untied team in the nation. Valpo held a 2-0 lead as late as the 72nd minute, but eventually fell 3-2 in overtime despite becoming the first team to score Among MVC Leaders two goals in a match against a sound Bears’ defense this season. Valpo was in front for Individual Players 42 minutes, the second-longest any team has led against Missouri State this year behind Player Category Value Rank Tulsa back on Sept. 14. Valpo has five wins and one draw against Top 25 sides since the Mason Marcey Shots 31 8th start of the 2013 campaign. Mason Marcey Shots/G 2.07 6th Mason Marcey Points 11 9th Series Notes – Missouri State: The aforementioned heartbreaker saw Valpo’s all-time Marcey/Madondo Goals 4 T-8th record against Missouri State slip to 0-10-1 in a head-to-head series that started in 1989. Marcey/Garcia Assists 3 T-10th The lone draw came 1-1 on Sept.