SIUE (2-3-0) vs. Evansville (4-0-3)

Date: Sunday, September 12, 2021
First Kick: 2:00 p.m. CT
Location: Evansville, Ind.

News & Notes

WHERE WE'RE AT: SIUE women's soccer enters Sunday's contest following a 5-0 rout over SIU Carbondale that saw Maria Haro and MacKenzie Litzsinger both notch braces. 

THE OTHER VALLEY: SIUE has gone toe-to-toe against some of the best squads in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, opening the season with a 3-0 loss at Loyola Chicago before falling in a 1-0 heartbreaker at Drake. Sunday's match at Evansville will mark the Cougars' final regular season fixture against a MVC side in 2021.

SCOUTING THE PURPLE ACES: Evansville enters Sunday's contest at 4-0-3, marking just the second undefeated opponent the Cougars have faced this season. The Aces have claimed victories over three OVC squads thus far - Belmont, Morehead State, and Southeast Missouri.

LOCAL FLAIR: Coach Burton has recruited and retained talented student-athletes from throughout the Metro East and Greater St. Louis regions. Of the 33 student-athletes on this season's roster, 21 hail from Greater St. Louis - this includes five who came to SIUE from a county in the Metro East region.

RETURNERS: The Cougars return all but two starters from last season's OVC champion squad, and bring back all three goalkeepers from Spring 2021. Highlighting the returning Cougars are OVC Forward of the Year MacKenzie Litzsinger, All-OVC and United Soccer Coaches All-South Region Second Team selection Lily Schnieders, and OVC All-Newcomer selection Matea Diekema.

NEW FACES: The Red & White welcome eight newcomers to the program, six of whom hail from the Greater St. Louis area. Included in this class are sisters Ashlyn and Kaitlyn Nichols (O'Fallon, Mo.), who join Matea and Myah Diekema as the only known pair of sisters playing in the same Division I soccer program.

SEASON 40: The 2021 season marks the 40th season of intercollegiate women's soccer at SIUE, with nearly 1,000 alumni and current student-athletes having donned the Red & White since the program's inaugural season in 1982. Since the program's founding, the Cougars have amassed 377 all-time victories and have appeared in eight NCAA Tournaments (five D-II; three D-I).