August 27, 2003
USI men’s soccer plays for real Sunday at McKendree
The University of Southern Indiana men’s soccer team will kick-off the 2003 season for real Sunday, August 31, at McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois. Start time on Sunday is 4:30 p.m.
Despite an 0-2-0 exhibition season, the Screaming Eagles showed a lot of promise. The Eagles fell in the exhibition opener, 4-2, to Division I University of Evansville and lost 1-0 at home to the NAIA national finalist Mid-Continent College.
Leading the Eagles is Acacemic All-American and NSCAA Scholar Athlete Duncan Bray (Scotland). Bray, a senior midfielder, also was first team All-Region and All-GLVC after leading the team in scoring with 30 points on nine goals and a GLVC-best 12 assists. His 12 assists also tied for 16th nationally.
USI also returns one-half of the GLVC co-Freshmen of the Year award winners in sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Penick (Evansville, Indiana). Penick posted a 1.21 goals against average in 17 games and 1336:44 minutes between the posts. He also had five shutouts and had an 11-4 record as a freshman.
McKendree enters the season after going 10-10-0 in 2002 and will open its regular season schedule at home against Newman University on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats are led by a trio of seniors who have combined for 161 starts.
Offensively, senior midfielder Joe McClary and senior forward Steve Frierdich lead the way. McClary and Frierdich tied for second last season with seven goals each, while McClary was third on the squad with 16 total points.
Defensively, McKendree is directed by senior back Rob Lugge, who is a three-time AMC honorable mention All-Conference performer.
After the Eagles play McKendree on Sunday, the Eagles will play a second road game – Friday September 5, at the University of Missouri-Rolla – before opening at Strassweg Field against Spalding University Sunday, September 7.
Ray Simmons, USI Sports Information
Assistant Coach
