2018 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 2018 Schedule and Results Drake (6-5-3, 1-2-2) Date Opponent Time/Result Aug. 24 IUPUI W 1-0 (2ot) at Valparaiso (4-7-4, 1-1-3 MVC) Saturday, Nov. 3 – 7 p.m. CT Aug. 26 at Marquette L 3-1 This Week in Valpo Soccer: The final chance to catch the Valparaiso University men’s Sept. 1 vs. Northwestern% L 1-0 soccer team in action at Brown Field this season will be on Saturday night as Drake Sept. 3 at Wisconsin% L 1-0 comes to town for the regular season finale. Valpo can take comfort in the fact that it has Sept. 7 at Milwaukee W 1-0 done enough to secure a Missouri Valley Conference Tournament appearance regardless Sept. 15 Western Illinois T 0-0 of Saturday’s outcome, but there’s still plenty to play for with tournament seeding on Sept. 22 at Missouri State* L 1-0 the line in the home finale. Sept. 25 SIU Edwardsville L 3-2 Sept. 29 at Bowling Green L 2-1 Previously: The point that clinched the conference tournament berth came on Saturday Oct. 1 Oral Roberts L 4-1 as Valpo went on the road and played to a 1-1 draw against Evansville. Demar Rose Oct. 6 Loyola* T 0-0 scored a key equalizer in the 82nd minute before Valpo held on to the result through Oct. 10 at Eastern Illinois W 2-1 a card-filled 20 minutes of extra time that saw the two teams play the final seven Oct. 13 at Bradley* W 2-0 minutes with Evansville at a 10 vs. 9 advantage. Goalkeeper Nacho Miras corralled a Oct. 20 Central Arkansas* T 2-2 season-high six saves. Oct. 27 at Evansville* T 1-1 Nov. 3 Drake* 7 p.m. Following Valpo: This week’s game will be broadcast on ESPN3, which is available Nov. 7-11 MVC Tournament# TBD free of charge with a cable provider login. Dave Huseman (play-by-play) and Ben Ariano (color commentary) will have the call. Links to live video and stats are posted All times Central. on ValpoAthletics.com. Home matches in bold and played at Brown Field. * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference match Table Talk: Entering Saturday’s game, Valpo can finish anywhere from third to sixth # - indicates in Evansville, Ind. in the MVC standings. Drake can clinch a tournament spot with a win or draw or an % - indicates University of Wisconsin Tournament Evansville win or draw against Bradley. The only way Drake misses the tournament is if Valpo wins on Saturday and Bradley beats Evansville. Central Arkansas and Loyola are the two teams in contention for the league’s regular season title, while those two teams and Missouri State are battling for first-round tournament byes with two of those Missouri Valley Conference teams going straight to the semifinals. Standings Seniors in the Spotlight: The men’s soccer program has continued its tradition of Team MVC Overall honoring select seniors at matches over the course of the season instead of having one Loyola 3-1-2 (11) 9-5-2 senior night. This week’s seniors in the spotlight will be Akeem Bradford and Rafael Metzingen. Bradford has one goal and one assist this season and has two goals and two Central Arkansas 4-1-1 (10) 6-5-3 assists in his two years on campus. Mentzingen has two goals and two assists this year Missouri State 2-1-2 (8) 8-1-5 and 11 goals and three assists for his two-year Valpo career. Valparaiso 1-1-3 (6) 4-7-4 Drake 1-2-2 (5) 6-5-3 Plentiful Promotions: There are plenty of reasons to catch Valpo men’s soccer at Brown Evansville 1-2-2 (5) 3-7-7 Field on Saturday. It’s the program’s annual St. Baldrick’s benefit game, and any attendees Bradley 1-4-0 (3) 8-4-4 who donate to the cause will receive a complimentary scarf and cup of hot chocolate. A participant in the St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event will be an honorary captain, while participants in the event will compete in a penalty kick shootout at halftime. The event will raise support for St. Baldrick’s Childhood Cancer Research Foundation. There will also be a gold rush t-shirt giveaway for the first 200 fans. Unbeaten Streak: Valpo moved its unbeaten streak to five with last week’s 1-1 draw at Evansville. Valpo is 2-0-3 during a five-game streak that marks the program’s longest @VUMSO stretch without a loss since 2016, when Valpo went six straight without a setback from Sept. 24 to Oct. 11. The unbeaten streak started after a tough midseason stretch that #oneVALPO saw Valpo drop four straight. Tournament Time: Valpo has clinched a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season after joining the league in 2017. With one fixture remaining in the regular season, Valpo has only one league loss - 1-0 on the 2018 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 road against conference power Missouri State. Last week’s game provided Valpo with a Valpo When... preview of the MVC Tournament site as the team visited Evansville, which will host the At home 1-2-3 tournament at McCutchan Stadium next week. On the road 3-4-1 Neutral site 0-1-0 Conference Results: If Valpo can come away with a win or draw on Saturday, it will finish the regular season with just one conference defeat. That would mark the fourth time in During the day 1-2-1 program history that Valpo finished with just one league loss, joining the Mid-Continent At night (5 p.m. or later local) 3-5-3 Conference regular season championship teams of 1997 (6-1-1) and 1998 (3-1-1) and the Horizon League championship team of 2011 (5-1-2). The three draws has already tied 2012 Scoring first 3-0-1 and 2015 for the most in conference play in a single season in program history. Should Opponent scores first 1-7-1 Valpo and Drake draw on Saturday, it would set the program record for conference draws in a single season. Playing overtime 1-0-4 Goalkeeper Goodness: Nacho Miras made a season-high six saves last week against the Leading at halftime 1-0-0 Purple Aces, in the process reaching the 100-save plateau for his collegiate career. Miras Trailing at halftime 0-5-1 currently has a goals against average of 1.16, a mark that would rank eighth in program Tied at halftime 3-2-3 history if the season ended today. As a team, Valpo has allowed just 19 goals, a number that is in position to rank in the Top 10 in program history for fewest goals permitted in Outshooting opponents 3-4-2 a campaign. Outshot by opponents 1-2-2 Tied in Shots 0-1-0 Scouting the Opponent: Drake’s win in conference play came over a Central Arkansas team that is in the hunt for the league title, while the Bulldogs have also earned draws against Scoring fewer than two goals 2-6-3 the other two of the league’s top three teams – Loyola and Missouri State. Drake is led by Scoring two or more goals 2-1-1 Leroy Enzugusi, who has seven goals (t-2nd MVC) and 15 points (3rd MVC) to pace the team. Drake is second in the league in goals with 21, an average of 1.50 goals per game. The Bulldogs also lead the league in saves with 86, 6.14 per game. Goalkeeper Jared Brown is the league leader in saves with 84 and saves per game at 6.00. Brown is the reigning MVC Player of the Week after making 10 saves in a scoreless draw with Missouri State. He also won the award on Oct. 2. Cole Poppen has eight assists to lead the MVC. Drake is coached Among MVC Leaders by Gareth Smith, who has been at the helm since 2015. Individual Field Players (within Top 5) Player Category Value Rank Series Notes: These two teams played each other twice last season, once in the regular Rafael Menztingen Shots 53 1st season and once in The Valley tournament. Rafael Mentzingen’s SportsCenter worthy goal Lucca Lacerda Shots 37 5th was not enough for Valpo to come away with the win in the MVC Tournament meeting Rafael Mentzingen Shots/G 3.53 1st as Drake prevailed 4-2 in a game that took place at Bradley. Valpo erased a 2-0 deficit for Lucca Lacerda Shots/G 2.47 4th a 3-2 overtime win in the regular season match in Des Moines, allowing Mike Avery to Lucca Lacerda Goals 4 T-5th shatter a program record with his 77th career victory. Individual Goalkeepers (within Top 5) Nacho Miras Saves 42 4th National Honors: Lucca Lacerda scored three goals and had one assist over two matches Nacho Miras Save Percentage .724 5th in a four-day span including a brace to lift Valpo to a 2-0 Missouri Valley Conference vic- Nacho Miras GAA 1.16 5th tory at Bradley on Oct.