Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer programs combined to record a 9-5-3 (.618) mark over the opening weekend of the 2023 season. Two teams -- UIC and Missouri State posted perfect marks to kick off their campaigns. Valley teams went 5-1-3 at home during the opening weekend.
This week's schedule features three matches vs. teams from Power leagues as Northern Illinois faces Notre Dame, Bowling Green hosts Michigan and UIC welcomes Wisconsin.
A notable result against teams from Power leagues during opening weekend included Missouri State's 1-0 victory at #14 Maryland. The win is an early marquee resume win for the Bears. (RECAP)
Five Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer players were named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy watch list. Belmont's Case Cox, Evansville's Nacho Diaz, Missouri State's Kian Yari and Jesus Berea and Western Michigan's Charlie Sharp were included in the prestigious field of 37 players.
Belmont Bruins
- Belmont owns a 20-match home unbeaten streak that dates back to March 30, 2021. The Bruins have gotten a result in 22 of their last 24 matches at E.S. Rose Park. During its home undefeated streak, Belmont has outscored its opponents 28-9.
- With Belmont’s 1-0 shutout of Georgia State, fifth-year head coach David Costa improved to 3-1-1 in season openers.
BRADLEY Braves
- Bradley will continue its streak of home opener results, since 2011 Bradley has lost only one home opener (L 0-1 to Northwestern in 2017). Bradley's streak now stands at six straight matches featuring three wins out of the last four home openers and it increases BU's home opener record to 9-1-3 since 2011.
- This season BU welcomed 23 newcomers to their 2023 squad. Through two games over the weekend, all of them played in at least one game, six started and played in both games, and one played every minute of both matches during the weekend.
Bowling green Falcons
- Following the win over Cleveland State, Bowling Green is now 82-9-6 when scoring two or more goals in the Eric Nichols Era.
- The Falcons are 58-29-21 in home matches since Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. BGSU is 30-9-13 (.702) since the start of the 2016 campaign.
DRAKE Bulldogs
- The Bulldogs began their 2023 season with a pair of road matches in America’s Dairyland. Drake opened the year against star forward AJ Franklin’s former team, the Marquette Golden Eagles (8/24). Drake battled Marquette in a back-and-forth affair but fell by a 3-2 margin.
- The Bulldogs’ tour of the Badger State continued with a trip to Madison and a date with Wisconsin (8/27). Despite a stellar performance from goalkeeper Kevin Qi, the Badgers held on for a 2-0 defeat of Drake. The Bulldogs will start their home schedule this week with a visit from Western Illinois on Friday, Sep. 1 in Des Moines.
EVANSVILLE Purple aces
- For the second season in a row, UE begins the year with a draw against the Bellarmine Knights. It's the first time in program history that the Aces have started the season with a tie in consecutive years. The two draws against the Knights also help to even out Evansville's series record against Bellarmine to 2-3-2 for a .428 winning percentage.
- The Aces hit the road for their longest road trip of the season this week. UE will be away from McCutchan Stadium for three straight games, including a Labor Day Weekend trip to North Carolina. While in the Palmetto State, Evansville will take on High Point who made the NCAA Tournament in 2022, and UNC Ashville before returning to Indiana for the Mayor's Cup against Southern Indiana.
UIC Flames
- The Flames scored three goals in back-to-back matches for the first time since doing so against Bradley (3-0, Sept. 24) and Belmont (3-3, Oct. 1) last season.
- UIC is off to its first 2-0 start since the 2018 season when the Flames opened their season with wins against Campbell and Providence.
- UIC’s Labor Day contest against Wisconsin will be the Badgers first trip to Flames Field since 2009, which was a 3-0 UIC victory.
MISSOURI STATE Bears
- The Missouri State Bears took down No. 14 Maryland 1-0 last Thursday in College Park to start the season. The Bears outshot the Terrapins 6-2 and weathered five corner kicks in the second half after Jack Denton put MSU on top with a goal in the 31st minute.
- Missouri State is now 2-0 all-time against Maryland going back to the 2020-21 NCAA Tournament and has not lost a season opener since 2017.
- The Bears have one contest this week against the Kansas City Roos (0-1-1) on Thursday, August 31.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS Huskies
- Sophomore midfield Angel Rodriguez recorded points in each of NIU’s first two games of the season. Rodriguez provided the assist on Dylan Banker’s goal that gave the Huskies a 1-0 win over Western Illinois (Aug. 24) in the season opener, he then scored his first goal of the season, and the third of his collegiate career, against Memphis (Aug. 27).
- In NIU’s season opening victory over Western Illinois (Aug. 24), senior defender Dylan Banker scored the lone goal in the 42nd minute to give the Huskies the 1-0 victory. It was the goal for Banker in his collegiate career, coming in his 32nd career game. Senior goalkeeper Jakub Rojek also picked up his first career shutout and first career victory in the contest.
Western michigan Broncos
- After Sunday's win, coach Chad Wiseman continued to cement his legacy within the men's soccer program: Wiseman now sits three victories away from becoming the second coach in program history to eclipse 110 career victories. Wiseman, currently with 107 victories, is 18 wins away from sharing the all-time wins record (125 wins) with Blake Glass (1983-1997).
- Charlie Sharp needs five more goals to be tied with Randy Wojtala (1976-79) for second in program history with 29 goals. The current career leading goal scorer for WMU is Dan Edwards (1991-94), who scored 34 goals during his time with the Broncos. Additionally, Sharp is tied for 22nd in goals scored by active NCAA Division I men's soccer players.
- WMU's third straight road match to open the 2023 regular season will mark the third time in four seasons that the Broncos would start their regular season campaign in such a manner.