EU women's football team announces 2024 schedule - Bondiewithlove (2024)

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Away non-conference games at Louisville and Indiana, along with home non-conference games with defending ASUN regular-season champion Lipscomb and regional rivals Lindenwood and UT Martin, highlight the 2024 non-conference portion of the University of Evansville women’s soccer schedule, which was announced Tuesday by head coach Chris Pfau.

Evansville will play two exhibition games and six regular-season games against opponents within a three-hour radius of campus in 2024. That eight-game series, however, includes two games against teams from a year ago’s NCAA Tournament, as well as a game against a defending conference regular-season champion.

The 2024 season will open with an exhibition game at SIUE on Wednesday, Aug. 7, before the Purple Aces play their only home exhibition game of the season on Saturday, Aug. 10 against NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 participant Saint Louis University (5 p.m.). The Billikens went 19-3-2 last season and were nationally ranked for much of the season.

Evansville will then open the 2024 regular season at home against defending ASUN regular season champion Lipscomb on Thursday, Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. The Bisons went 14-5-1 in 2023, including a 10-1-1 conference record to win the ASUN regular season crown.

Ten days later, UE will hit the road to face Western Kentucky in a non-conference game on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 6 p.m. The Hilltoppers finished third in CUSA a year ago, and the two teams battled to a scoreless tie in 2023 in Evansville.

UE will then return home to Arad McCutchan Stadium to host Lindenwood on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. before embarking on a grueling two-game road trip. Evansville will first travel east to Atlantic Coast Conference member Louisville for a 6 p.m. Central game on Sunday, Sept. 1. Then, UE will travel north four days later to renew its rivalry with 2023 NCAA Tournament participant Indiana on Thursday, Sept. 5 (7 p.m. Central kickoff).

The non-conference portion of UE’s schedule will conclude on Thursday, September 12 at 6 p.m. with a non-conference game against Ohio Valley Conference member UT Martin. The game will be UE’s “Senior Day,” as UE will honor its senior class that night. Evansville will then kick off Missouri Valley Conference play on the road on Thursday, September 19 with a 6:30 p.m. game against Belmont.

“We think this schedule will definitely prepare us for the Missouri Valley Conference game,” Pfau said. “There’s a good mix of teams on this year’s schedule that play different ways, so it’ll be good preparation for the Valley game.”

UE will face Murray State on Sunday, September 22 at 1 p.m. in the Purple Aces’ first home MVC game of the year. The Murray State game will be part of “Alumni Weekend” for the UE program, as Evansville will host alumni from various points in the program’s history that day. The Purple Aces will also be looking to avenge last year’s 1-0 MVC Tournament loss to the Racers in the 2023 Valley Tournament.

September will conclude with UE’s final regular-season MVC game at Missouri State on Thursday, Sept. 26, as the Bears will play their final season in the Valley this year. UE, Missouri State and Illinois State are the only members of the conference to have played every MVC women’s soccer season since its inception in 1996.

October begins with a pair of tough home games on Thursday, Oct. 3 and Sunday, Oct. 6 against UNI (6 p.m.) and defending MVC regular-season champion Drake (1 p.m.). The Purple Aces will then hit the road for a game at UIC on Thursday, Oct. 10 before facing 2023 MVC Tournament champion Valparaiso on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 1 p.m. in Valparaiso, Indiana.

UE concludes the regular season with two of its final three home games, with home games against Illinois State (Thursday, Oct. 17 – 6 p.m.) and Southern Illinois (Sunday, Oct. 27 – noon) interspersed with a road trip to Indiana State (Sunday, Oct. 20 – 1 p.m. Central). The 2024 MVC Tournament will begin on Halloween with first-round games and continue with quarterfinal games on Nov. 3, semifinal games on Nov. 7 and the MVC Tournament Final on Sunday, Nov. 10.