Missouri Valley Conference men's soccer programs combined to record an 9-4-4 (.647) mark during the week. Four teams, Missouri State, UIC, Bradley and Belmont, remain unbeaten entering the third week of play. Valley teams sit 9-1-5 (.767) at home so far this season.
The league had two notable results against teams from Power leagues during the week. UIC was dominant in a 2-0 win over a Wisconsin team that was coming off a win at No. 2 Kentucky and Bowling Green claimed a 2-1 win at home over Michigan.
This week's schedule features two matches vs. teams from Power leagues as Northern Illinois and UIC each visit Northwestern.
Polling
Belmont Bruins
- Jansen Wilson’s two-assist match in the win over Houston Christian is the third of his career. He last recorded two assists in a match on Oct. 1, 2022, in Belmont’s 3-3 home draw with UIC.
- The Bruins were also unbeaten through the first four matches of the season in the spring of 2021 when Belmont started the unique 2020 campaign 3-0-1.
BRADLEY Braves
- The Braves continued their hot start to the season with two consecutive wins against DePaul and Eastern Illinois. The Braves are now 3-0-1 and are two wins and a draw away from tying their best start since 2018 when they began the year 5-0-2.
- The Braves are set to play one last road game before hosting three straight at Shea stadium.
Bowling green Falcons
- Senior Kyle Cusimano has scored a goal in two-straight games, while fifth-year Falcon Eli Shope has found the back of the net in each of BGSU’s two home games this season to date.
- Following the win over Michigan on Monday, Bowling Green is now 83-9-7 when scoring two or more goals in the Eric Nichols Era.
- The Falcons are 59-29-21 in home matches since Nichols took the helm prior to the 2009 season. BGSU is 31-9-13 since the start of the 2016 campaign.
DRAKE Bulldogs
- The Bulldogs picked up their first win of the season in their 2023 home opener with a 1-0 shutout of Western Illinois (9/1). Austin Holtebeck connected with a header on a corner kick from Damian Segura for the match’s only score. Drake then dropped a high-scoring contest at Kansas City on Labor Day (9/4). The Bulldogs overcame a 3-0 halftime deficit to get within one score in the waning moments.
- The Bulldogs will take on two more non-MVC opponents in their next two matches with a trip to Tulsa (9/9) and a visit from Omaha (9/13) on the schedule.
EVANSVILLE Purple aces
- Junior midfielder Jose Vivas continued his offensive burst in the second week of play. Of Evansville's two goals against High Point and UNC Asheville, Vivas contributed to both scoring against the Panthers and having the lone assist at Asheville. The junior currently leads the Aces in points with 5 and leads the team in shots with 11.
- The Aces continue to excel at evenly distributing the ball across the field. UE is one of the Top 50 teams in the country in assists per game, averaging 1.75 assists over four games in the 2023 season. Sophomore defender Nalu Wagner leads the way for the Aces with two assists in four appearances.
UIC Flames
- The Flames took down Wisconsin on Sept. 4 by a 2-0 final score, UIC’s first victory over a Big Ten school since toppling Northwestern in 2021. Coming into the match undefeated, the Badgers had most recently beaten #2 Kentucky in Madison, and the Flames were the first team to score on the Wisconsin defense in four matches.
- UIC (3-0-1) is off to its best start of a regular season since 2020, when the Flames also went 3-0-1 in their first four matches in a COVID-19 shortened regular season. Prior to 2020, the Flames also went 3-0-1 to start the 2014 regular season.
MISSOURI STATE Bears
- The No. 18-ranked Missouri State Bears are now 2-0 thanks to back-to-back 1-0 road victories against then-No.14 Maryland and Kansas City.
- Senior midfielder Jack Denton scored each goal for the Bears across both games, marking the second time in his career that he has scored in consecutive matches.
- The Bears have two matches this week, starting on Tuesday against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-2-0) at 7:00 p.m. to close out a three-game road trip. Missouri State will then welcome VCU in its home opener on Saturday, September 9 at 7:00 p.m. CT.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS Huskies
- Eddie Knight’s hat trick against Aurora was the first by a Huskie since Nick Markanich scored three goals on September 18, 2021, in a 6-0 victory over Western Illinois. There have been 32 hat tricks recorded in Huskie men’s soccer history, but just three have occurred during the 21st century. Along with Knight and Markanich, Bernhard Hagevik recorded a hat trick on Oct. 25, 2002, against Marshall.
- NIU’s seven goals against Aurora are the most scored by the Huskies since defeating Chicago State, 10-0, on Feb. 26, 2021. Four different Huskies scored in the victory over Aurora, with Eddie Knight getting a hat trick, Camilo Estrada scoring two and Taisei Arima and Taylor Davis each scoring once. The last time NIU had four-or-more different goal scorers in a game was in the MAC Tournament Semifinals against Bowling Green on Nov. 11, 2021, when five different players scored in a 5-2 victory.
Western michigan Broncos
- WMU recorded its second consecutive shutout of the season. So far the Broncos are allowing an average of 0.75 goals per contest. The last time WMU would record back-to-back shutouts was on 10/18/22 and 10/22/22 in a 3-0 win over Oakland and a 2-0 win over Wright State.