CHICAGO (October 3, 2019) – Winners of its last four games, the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team will return home for the first time in over three weeks when it welcomes UNI to Loyola Soccer Park at 7 p.m. on Saturday to open a season-long three-game homestand.  Saturday will also serve as Loyola's "Pink Game", with the first 150 fans receiving a free t-shirt and a 50/50 raffle benefiting Loyola Medicine's Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center set to take place throughout the evening.
 
Last Time Out: Loyola found the back of the net three times in the second half to race past Drake, 3-0, in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams last Saturday at Valley Stadium in West Des Moines, Iowa.  Megan Nemec, who was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Monday, opened the scoring just 99 seconds into the second stanza, before Savanah Cruz and Aleksa Tataryn added insurance tallies.  Grace Droessler recorded four saves to notch her first collegiate shutout en route to being honored as the MVC Defensive Player of the Week.
 
vs. UNI: UNI currently finds itself in the midst of a three-game slide that has seen its record dip to 4-6-0 overall (0-1-0 MVC).  The Panthers dropped their MVC opener to visiting Illinois State by a final count of 5-0 last Saturday at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex in Waterloo, Iowa.  Coming off a 9-7-3 (4-3-0 MVC) campaign in 2018, UNI was tabbed fifth in the MVC's Preseason Poll.  Third-year head coach Bruce Erickson's team is led in the offensive third by Jordyn Rolli, who paces the Panther attack with five goals on the year.  Sydney Hayden has dished out a team-best four assists to go along with three goals of her own for a UNI offense that averages 2.00 goals per game.  Anna Kaiser has started in six games this season, including three of the last four games, and holds a 2.50 goals against average.
 
Series Stuff: Saturday's tilt in Rogers Park marks the 12th meeting between Loyola and UNI in women's soccer.  The Ramblers hold a 7-3-1 edge in the previous 11 encounters.  Loyola has dominated the series of late, winning four of the past five meetings, including each of the past three contests, and is a sparkling 5-0-0 against UNI at Loyola Soccer Park.  When the two teams met last season in Waterloo, Jenna Szczesny and Madison Kimball each netted a pair of goals as Loyola cruised to a 4-2 victory over the Panthers at the Cedar Valley Soccer Complex.  Kate Moran recorded five saves in goal for the Maroon & Gold. 
 
Up Next: Loyola is back in action on October 12 at 1 p.m. when it welcomes Missouri State to Loyola Soccer Park for the program's annual "Alumnae Day".  More information can be found on Loyola's Alumni Relations website.