INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI men's soccer team will play its second of three preseason matches on Thursday night (Aug. 17) when the Jaguars welcome the University of Indianapolis to the on-campus Michael A. Carroll Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and admission will be FREE of charge. IUPUI will close the preseason at the University of Evansville on Sunday night (Aug. 20). 

Head Coach Brian Barnett's squad opened the preseason with a 3-0 loss at Ohio State, yielding a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes to widen the final margin. Redshirt freshman Michael Buck went the distance in net while a group of freshmen that included Tommy Patacca and Gianni Catenacci asserted themselves well in their collegiate debuts. 

Barnett will be looking for a number of improvements in the Jaguars' second preseason match, primarily on the defensive side. Ideally, his squad will win more balls higher up the field, allowing for more attacking and less defending. Given nearly a full week of training time, he also expects a better implementation of team defense. 

"One of the things we'll focus on is when we do concede possession, we'll get more pressure to the ball, resulting in fewer scoring opportunities for the opposition," Barnett said. "In the attack, it's our hope that players understand their positioning in relation to the position of the ball and stay engaged in the attack. That'll help lead to more scoring opportunities.

"Some of that takes time and just reps playing with one another."

Barnett also anticipates his squad being more organized on restarts, both defensively and offensively, as they near the start of the regular season. 

The second-year head coach's squad will be reliant on a youth movement offensively as senior Uriel Macias is still recovering from injury. True freshman Matthew Skaar will a key cog in goal scoring, as will midfielders Cameron Haegele, Yan Souza and Pedro Valladao. 

Another key face among the starting 11 will be senior Harold Agyeman-Prempeh, who hasn't played on the home pitch since November 2015. The crafty veteran missed all of last season due to injury, but has shown well in preseason thus far. 

A full recap and photos from Thursday's match will be available via IUPUIJags.com immediately afterwards.