at Cleveland State (Sept. 14 - 7pm): Live Stats I ESPN3
vs. Valparaiso (Sept. 16 - 1pm): Live Stats I ESPN+

CLEVELAND - The IUPUI women's soccer team will open Horizon League play on Friday night (Sept. 14) when the Jaguars hit the road to face Cleveland State at 7:00 p.m. That match will be aired on ESPN3. Head coach Chris Johnson's squad will cap a busy weekend by returning home to host in-state foe Valparaiso on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 16) at 1:00 p.m. That match will be broadcast on ESPN+ as Scott Agness is on the call. 

IUPUI (2-4-2) is coming off a 1-0 home win over Evansville thanks to sophomore Valentine Pursey's game-winner in the 79th minute. Pursey, who scored a team-high 13 goals as a freshman, tallied for the first time in 2018 last weekend, courtesy of assists from Natalie McNally and Emma Chambers. Junior goalkeeper Sophia Lipka knocked down her 13th career shutout and extended her personal scoreless streak to more than 200 minutes dating back to the loss at Toledo. 

IUPUI has been outscored 14-8 for the season as the Jags have scored just two first half goals in eight games. Sophomore Miranda Ricks leads the Jaguars' attack with two goals and four assists and has contributed to six of the team's eight goals. McNally has a goal and two assists and Chambers also has two assists. 

Four Jags have tallied their first career goals this year as McNally and fellow sophomores Morgan Rymer and Jessi Cowen scored their firsts this season, as did true freshman Elizabeth Bueckers. 

QUOTABLE: "It feels great. We felt some momentum in practice this week. We felt like we needed this win to go forward and get ready for conference games. It felt great to get a goal. I felt like I needed it and now we've just got to keep going and everyone needs to get more goals so we can keep winning games," Pursey said after her game-winner against Evansville. 

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State is 4-4 this season and 3-1 on their home turf. The Vikings have outscored their opponents by a 13-10 margin and gotten game-winning goals from four different players. Sarah Krause leads the CSU attack with three goals and an assist and Jenna Prathapa also has three goals this season. Dani Sowinski has a team-high six assists from her forward position. In goal, Stevie Holbrook has started all eight games and registered a 1.13 goals against average and .795 save percentage in 636 minutes of work. 

SCOUTING VALPO: Valpo is 2-4-1 on the season and 1-2-1 away from home. The Crusaders have been outscored by a 12-7 margin, despite outshooting their opponents by more than two shots per game. Cory Griffith has five of the team's seven goals and Sydney Griffin has a team-high two assists. Drew Moulton and Kezia Gesell have split time in net with Moulton registering a 1.48 GAA and 14 saves. Gesell has a 1.33 GAA and .733 save percentage, albeit in slightly fewer minutes than Moulton. 

INSIDE THE SERIES: The Jaguars are 4-3-1 all-time against Cleveland State as the two sides faced off twice in 2017. The Jags won the regular season contest, 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 15 as Ricks scored the winner in the 96th minute off assists from Hayley Shelton and Krissy Kirkhoff. The two teams played to a 1-1 draw in the Horizon League Tournament Quarterfinals before IUPUI advanced on PKs, 4-2. Pursey netted the equalizer in the game's 79th minute and then Ricks, Shelton, Sarah Jacobs and Braegan Lyon all connected on their PK opportunities. IUPUI is 4-11-4 all-time against Valpo, following last season's 2-0 loss to the Crusaders on the road. 

NEXT UP: IUPUI will host Detroit Mercy in a Horizon League contest at Carroll Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22 at 2:00 p.m. in a match that will be broadcast on ESPN+.