LOVES PARK, Ill. - The IUPUI men's soccer team will return to the pitch on Sunday (Feb. 28) when the Jaguars take on UIC (2-0-1) at 1:00 p.m. Eastern inside Indoor Sports Center. No fans will be permitted inside Indoor Sports Center on Sunday.
The Jaguars (0-1) debuted earlier this week after a lengthy COVID related pause delayed the start of the season. After barely being able to participate in team training, the Jags opened the year with a 2-0 home loss to Purdue Fort Wayne at a snowy Michael A. Carroll Stadium on Monday.
Junior goalkeeper
Quinn McCallion recorded two saves defensively for the Jaguars and freshman reserve
Rayan Choukri fired a team-high four shots. Choukri had two of the team's three shots on goal as IUPUI outshot the Mastodons by a 12-8 margin.
Read about how Head Coach Brian Barnett's initial recruiting class has helped change the culture and narrative surrounding the program -
BARNETT'S FIRST RECRUITING CLASS CHANGING THE FACE OF IUPUI SOCCER
PRESEASON POLLS
IUPUI was picked to finish ninth among the 11-team #HLMSOC Preseason Poll.
#HLMSOC STANDINGS
RETURNING STARTERS (7)
Gianni Catenacci - Sr. - D (1 goal, 4 assists)
Ethan Diedel - Jr. - D (17 appearances, 11 starts)
Corey Goede - Jr. - D (15 starts)
Caleb Hussain - Soph. - D (13 starts)
Quinn McCallion - Jr. - GK (1.84 GAA, 84 saves)
Tommy Patacca - Sr. - D (3 goals, 1 GWG)
Chris Workman - Soph. - MF (1 goal)
HONOREES AND LEADERS
Workman was the lone IUPUI player to earn postseason accolades last season, being named to the 11-man All-Freshman Team. Workman appeared in 16 games and made 13 starts in the midfield while tallying a goal at Northern Kentucky in front of a large contingent of family and friends. Workman was fourth among IUPUI's field players with 1,280 minutes played and played 90 or more minutes seven different times.
ON THE SIDELINES
Head coach Brian Barnett is in his fifth year on the Jaguars' sidelines, having taken over the program just prior to the 2016 campaign. He led the team to the #HLMSOC Tournament Semifinals in 2018 before falling to eventual league champion UIC on penalty kicks. Barnett is joined on the sidelines by John Schwien, who enters his first year with the program.
NEW FACES
IUPUI has six new faces on the roster this year in true freshmen
Rayan Choukri,
Mandela Cybahiro,
Max Guidry,
Logan Finnegan,
Owen Jarrell and
Tyler Kaput. Choukri and Cybahiro were teammates for Millennium Indy and Finnegan, Jarrell and Kaput were all three teammates for Galaxy SC. Four other Jaguars -
Tylin Broaders,
Nate Pendleton,
Lucas Morefield and
Ethan Miller - are all in line to make their IUPUI debuts after redshirting last season.
SCOUTING UIC
UIC is 2-0-1 to start the year with road wins at Wright State (1-0) and Milwaukee (2-1) sandwiched around a home draw with Oakland (2-2). Nkusuwila Zulu leads the UIC attack with four points (1 goal, 2 assists) and their five goals have come from five different scorers this season. Both Jose Perez Flores and Diego Mendoza have both a goal and an assist. In goal, Sokratis Vasilas has played all 290 minutes this season, registering a 0.93 goals against average and .824 save percentage.
VERSUS THE FLAMES (see the entire history here)
IUPUI is 0-3-2 all-time against UIC and 0-1-1 in the two meetings in Chicago. UIC won the most recent meetings, 7-1 in Indianapolis on Oct. 27, 2019.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
The Horizon League will compete in a weekly, single round robin format this season that began on Feb. 3. Games will be played every six days.
ESPN COVERAGE
Every IUPUI home match at Carroll Stadium will be aired on ESPN platforms (either ESPN3 or ESPN+) this season. In addition, selected road matches will also be aired on ESPN platforms at the host schools' discretion.
