vs. Cleveland State (9/15 - 6pm): Live Stats I Game Notes
at Purdue Fort Wayne (9/18 - 1pm): ESPN+ I Live Stats I Game Notes 

INDIANAPOLIS - The IUPUI women's soccer team will open Horizon League play this week with a pair of matches as the Jaguars will host Cleveland State on Thursday (Sept. 15) before trekking to Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday (Sept. 18) for a road tilt. Head coach Chris Johnson's team recently closed an unbeaten non-conference slate with back-to-back home wins over Murray State and Evansville by identical 2-0 margins. Senior Maya Lacognato tallied goals in each of the two games to collect her second #HLWSOC Offensive Player of the Week award of the season. 

The Jaguars have been brilliant defensively this season, yielding just two goals and authoring six shutouts in seven games. IUPUI is riding four straight shutouts and hasn't conceded a goal in 486 minutes entering this week's play. That doesn't include a scoreless half at Southern Indiana on Sept. 5 as that game was later halted at halftime due to inclement weather. 

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ashton Kudlo has a 0.34 goals against average and .909 save percentage in her seven starts. In front of her, Makenna Collins, Maya Turner and Sophia White have been brilliant in limiting opponents' attempts as IUPUI is holding opponents to just more than eight shots per game. 

Offensively, IUPUI has found its way recently as Lacognato leads the squad with four goals and Emma Frey and Emma Antoine have two apiece. Lacognato has two of the team's four game-winners while freshman forward Sarah Henson has a team-high two assists. Turner leads the team with 588 minutes played and Collins is second at 512. 

QUOTABLE
"It felt good. I feel like we're really starting to connect as a team more and we're really starting to take opportunities that we weren't doing at the beginning (of the season), so we're really taking our chances farther," freshman Emma Frey said after the 2-0 win over Evansville on Sunday (Sept. 11). 

SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE
Cleveland State is 3-2-2 overall and 2-1-1 on the road. The Vikings have scored 12 goals in their three wins, blitzing St. Joseph's (5-0), St. Francis (Pa.) (4-1) and Niagara (3-2), but have scored just one goal in their other four games combined. Mayra Sesmas leads CSU with three goals and Lina Feltovich has a team-high two assists. Three CSU goalkeepers have combined to record a 1.57 goals against average with a .718 save percentage and two shutouts. Freshman Liv Fain has started four of CSU's seven games with a 1.04 GAA and a 1-1-2 mark. 

SCOUTING PURDUE FORT WAYNE
Purdue Fort Wayne is 4-2-2 on the year and 3-0-1 at home with wins over Chicago State (4-1), Ball State (1-0) and Southern Indiana (1-0). Mackenzie Evans leads the team in goals (4) and points (9) and Kelsey Gallagher has two goals. Rylee Vruggink has a team-high two assists. In goal, Samantha Castaneda has started all eight matches and has a 0.88 goals against average with three shutouts. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
IUPUI is 6-5-1 in 12 meetings with Cleveland State and 5-1-1 in the seven meetings in Indianapolis. CSU won last year's meeting as IUPUI had to forfeit its Sept. 16 contest due to COVID implications. Prior to that, IUPUI had won the previous two matchups. 

IUPUI is 7-7-4 all-time against Purdue Fort Wayne and has won the last three meetings in the series. The Jaguars are unbeaten in the last seven meetings in the series, going 4-0-3 in that span. The Jaguars are 3-3-2 in the eight contests in Fort Wayne. 

UP NEXT
IUPUI will continue Horizon League play next week with a pair of matches - at Northern Kentucky on Thursday (Sept. 22) and against Wright State on Sunday (Sept. 25).