CHICAGO (November 6, 2021) – Fresh off a convincing win to open the weekend, the Loyola University Chicago women's soccer team (12-2-2, 7-0-1 MVC) will look to secure a fourth straight Missouri Valley Conference tournament title and return trip to the NCAA Tournament when it hosts Evansville on Sunday in the MVC Women's Soccer Championship title game. Kickoff between the top-seeded Ramblers and sixth-seeded Purple Aces is slated for 1 p.m. from Loyola Soccer Park.
Last Time Out: Loyola stepped on the gas from the opening whistle as it sprinted past fifth-seeded Drake, 4-1, in a semifinal-round tilt on Friday evening.
Amanda Cassidy,
Megan Nemec,
Madeleine Barone, and
Taylor Harrison each netted goals for the Ramblers, who closed the night with a 19-4 advantage in shots.
vs. Evansville: Emily Ormson scored in the 104th minute of play as Evansville picked up a thrilling 2-1 double-overtime win over second-seeded Valparaiso in Friday's opening semifinal in Rogers Park, punching its ticket to its first MVC Championship title game since 2016.
Under the guidance of head coach Chris Pfau, who is in his second stint with the Purple Aces, Evansville currently sits at 7-4-7 overall. The Purple Aces went 2-3-3 in Valley play, finishing sixth in the final league table.
A First Team All-MVC pick, Ormson leads the way for Pfau's side, having netted a team-high seven goals across 18 appearances. Alex Eyler, who scored the opening goal on Friday, ranks behind only Ormson on the Purple Aces' roster in overall points, with two goals and a team-high six assists to her name. Two-time All-Valley honoree Michaela Till anchors the Evansville defense in goal. Till, who has appeared in 69 games across her four-plus year career, holds a 1.08 goals against average and a 0.833 save percentage in 2021.
Series Stuff: Loyola owns an 8-2-4 (.714) advantage in the all-time series between the Ramblers and Purple Aces.
When the two teams met during the regular season, Evansville jumped out to an early lead before Loyola stormed back behind second-half goals from
Megan Demski,
Olivia Knab, and
Sarah Noonan en route to a 3-1 win at Arad McCutchan Stadium on September 29.
In the last two clashes between Loyola and Evansville in the MVC Championship, the Purple Aces have prevailed on penalty kicks. After battling to a 0-0 stalemate in 2015, Evansville bested Loyola, 5-3, on spot kicks. One year later, the two teams played to a 1-1 deadlock before the Purple Aces prevailed by a 9-7 margin on penalty kicks.
Up Next: The winner of Sunday's MVC Championship title game will secure The Valley's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled to begin on November 12.
