WESTFIELD, Ind. - The red hot IUPUI men's soccer team will host Purdue Fort Wayne (1-9-3, 0-5-2 HL) on Field #1 at Grand Park in Westfield on Saturday (Oct. 29), capping the Jaguars' regular season home slate for the 2022 campaign. The Jags come in unbeaten in their past four games, outscoring foes by a 6-3 margin with a pair of shutouts during that span. Most recently, IUPUI played Bellarmine to a scoreless draw on Tuesday night on the heels of an emphatic 4-2 road win at Oakland last weekend. Junior forward Logan Finnegan was named the #HLMSOC Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts as he turned in two goals and an assist in that victory. Fellow junior Lukas Hackaa contributed a goal and three assists in the victory as IUPUI tallied at least two goals in a game for the seventh time this season. 

While the IUPUI attack has drawn considerable attention this year, the defense has tightened up of late as the Jaguars' goals against average has dropped to 1.73 on the year. Lucas Morefield has started 12 of the team's 15 contests with a 1.58 GAA while Bryson Najarian delivered the recent shutout at Bellarmine earlier this week. Freshman Edgar Correia has been the team's most dependable back alongside Dominic Breidenbach, while Tyler Gainer and Ethan Miller have provided veteran presence and experience on the back line. 

Offensively, a three-headed monster of redshirt freshman Josemir Gomez, Finnegan and Hackaa has been tough to contain. Gomez has a team-high eight goals and 19 points while Hackaa has five goals and a team-high seven assists. Two of his five scores have been game-winners, while Finnegan now has five goals and four assists on the year. Ethan Vermillion has gotten in on the act with two goals and an assist and Gavin O'Shea and Caleb McComas each have three points with a goal and assist apiece. 

Head coach Sid van Druenen's team has outscored foes by an 11-9 margin in Horizon League play with Finnegan, Gomez and Hackaa all having scored three goals each. The Jaguars enter the weekend tied for third in the Horizon League standings with 12 points, trailing Cleveland State (16) and Wright State (14). 

HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS

SCHOOL	CPTS	CONF	CPCT.	OVERALL	PCT.	STREAK
Cleveland State	16	5-1-1	.786	9-3-3	.700	L1
Wright State	14	4-1-2	.714	4-6-4	.429	L3
IUPUI	12	3-1-3	.643	4-5-6	.467	T1
Detroit Mercy	12	3-2-3	.562	4-6-5	.433	L1
Oakland	11	3-2-2	.571	3-9-3	.300	L2
Robert Morris	10	3-3-1	.500	5-7-1	.423	W2
Green Bay	9	2-2-3	.500	6-3-5	.607	W1
Northern Kentucky	7	2-5-1	.312	4-10-2	.312	L1
Milwaukee	4	0-3-4	.286	1-7-7	.300	T2
Purdue Fort Wayne	2	0-5-2	.143	1-9-3	.192	L4

QUOTABLE
"A clean sheet always feels good, especially in these tough conditions. We put in a huge effort today against a good team and are looking really good moving into Saturday," Najarian said following his first career shutout at Bellarmine on Tuesday. 

SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Purdue Fort Wayne is 1-9-3 overall and 0-5-2 in Horizon League play. The Mastodons' lone win of the season was a 2-1 victory over Western Illinois back on Sept. 2. Luke Benford leads the Mastodons attack with four goals and an assist and Seth Mahlmeister has two goals. Abe Arellano has delivered a team-high three assists on the year. In goal, Danny Salazar has played the bulk of the minutes with a 2.22 GAA in nine starts and Adam Hunt has a 2.00 GAA and 25 saves in his five appearances. 

SERIES HISTORY
The series history is all even at 15-15-1 all-time between the two teams. IUPUI is 9-5-1 in the 15 meetings in Indy and the two teams are 6-6 as league opponents. Purdue Fort Wayne has won the most recent two matchups, including a 1-0 victory in Fort Wayne last season.

UP NEXT
IUPUI will cap the regular season at Robert Morris on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 2:00 p.m in a match that will be broadcast on ESPN+.