RICHMOND, Ky. - The IUPUI women's soccer team will officially kick off the 2021 campaign on Thursday night (Aug. 19) when the Jaguars head south to face Eastern Kentucky at 4:00 p.m. on ESPN+. The Jaguars went 1-1 in the preseason with a victory over Eastern Illinois and a loss to SIUE heading into the season opener. Sophomore Sam Slimak paced the offense in the preseason with a pair of goals while Renae Blevins and Cassie Rodriguez also scored. Assists came from Emma Antoine, Elizabeth Bueckers, Maya Turner and Blevins. 

In goal, AP Woodall yielded two goals in her two halves of action, both coming against SIUE in the finale. Classmate Emily McGrath allowed four scores in her action between the pipes. 

QUOTABLE
"We learned, we've got to start playing and training a little bit faster than what we presently are. (SIUE) is a good team and that's a team that we want to be by the end of the season. We keep the ball and we keep it moving, we've got some people who can put the ball away. We had a hard time holding on to the ball today and we're going to have to do better than that if we're going to consistently score two goals a game," said head coach Chris Johnson following the exhibition finale with SIUE. 

PRESEASON POLLS
IUPUI was picked to finish fifth in the league according to the preseason poll released on Wednesday (Aug. 18): Read More

PROBABLE XI (based on the last outing)
GK- AP Woodall, Jr.
D- Grace Moore, Jr.
D- Abbey Renner, Fr.
D- Alex Stocker, Soph.
MF- Renae Blevins, Sr.
MF- Elizabeth Bueckers, Sr.
MF- Leah Shumate, Soph.
MF- Maya Turner, Jr.
MF- Autumn Weeks, Jr.
F- Maya Lacognato, Jr.
F- Sam Slimak, Soph.

SCOUTING THE JAGS
IUPUI is coming off a 5-2-2 campaign in which they allowed just six goals in nine games. The Jags outscored foes by a 9-6 margin with Bueckers and Weeks being the only two returning goal scorers from a season ago. Sophomore Jessica Jacobs had a team-high four assists a season ago, accounting for half of the team's total. Woodall returns as the primary netminder after notching a 0.70 goals against average and 31 saves in her seven starts. Other returning starters include Lacognato, Moore and Turner. 

SCOUTING EKU
EKU went 1-1 in the preseason with a 3-0 loss at Dayton, followed by a 4-3 home win over Marshall. The Colonels went 4-5-1 last season and were outscored 19-14 in 10 matches. Top scorer Michaela Iacono (3 goals, 3 assists) returns to the EKU attack after earning second team All-OVC honors from her midfield spot. Freshman Gretta Gunn tallied twice in EKU's 4-3 win over Marshall. 

ALL-TIME SERIES
IUPUI is 1-2 all-time against EKU, having won the most recent meeting, 1-0 on Sept. 5, 2019. EKU won the first two meetings in the series, 3-2 in double overtime in 2017 and 3-1 in RIchmond in 2018. IUPUI has never won at EKU in the series. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will open its home slate on Monday night (Aug. 23) when the Jaguars take on Marian University at 7:00 p.m. at the on-campus Michael A. Carroll Stadium.