BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The IUPUI men's soccer team will officially open the 2021 campaign on Thursday night (Aug. 26) when the Jaguars travel to Bowling Green for the season opener. Thursday's match will kickoff at 7:00 p.m. and be broadcast on YouTube. 

Head coach Brian Barnett's team went toe-to-toe with stiff competition in the preseason but dropped a 4-2 home decision to Dayton and a 2-0 count on the road at SIUE. Head coach Brian Barnett was encouraged by his team's work in the attack and will rely on a veteran defensive core and two more than capable goalkeepers in Quinn McCallion and Lucas Morefield. 

Barnett returns all 21 letterwinners from last season, which includes six players who started all six matches during the abbreviated spring season. 

QUOTABLE
"Right now, we're creating a ton of restarts, which I love. The next step is can we convert those restarts and continue to create scoring opportunities off those restarts in and around the 18. We need to get to the point where we can convert and put pressure on opponents in the attacking third," head coach Brian Barnett said. 

PRESEASON POLLS
IUPUI was picked to finish 11th in the Horizon League according to the preseason poll released on Tuesday (Aug. 24): Read More

PROBABLE XI (based on the last outing)
GK- Quinn McCallion, Sr.
D- Gianni Catenacci, 5th
D- Ethan Diedel, Sr.
D- Corey Goede, Sr.
D- Tommy Patacca, 5th
MF- Logan Finnegan, Soph.
MF- Kirezi Freddy, Jr.
MF- Luke Liljegren, Jr. 
MF- Anthony Saporito, Sr.
MF- Chris Workman, Jr.
F- Riley Shives, Sr.

SCOUTING THE JAGS
IUPUI went 0-2 in preseason play with losses to Dayton (4-2) and at SIUE (2-0) in exhibition play. In both instances the teams agreed to play an additional 30 minutes after regulation and played to scoreless draws. Riley Shives and Caleb Hussain scored goals in the preseason and Gianni Catenacci and Ethan Miller had assists on Hussain's score. Shives tallied on a penalty kick early in the second half against Dayton. 

SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
BGSU went 7-5-1 last season with three of the five losses coming to nationally ranked foes. The Falcons advanced to the NCAA Tournament before falling to Monmouth in the opening round. Jacob Erlandson is BGSU's top returning scorer having recorded three goals and two assists a season ago. Logan Kowalczyk returns in goal for the Falcons and had a 0.80 goals against average and 30 saves a season ago. 

ALL-TIME SERIES
IUPUI is 1-6-2 in the all-time series with Bowling Green that dates back to 2004. The Jags have dropped four straight in the series and haven't won since the series opener back in 2004. IUPUI is just 1-4 in the five meetings on the road. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will cap the week by facing off with Xavier on Sunday (Aug. 29) at 6:00 p.m. in Cincinnati. That contest will be broadcast on FloFC.