Valparaiso (0-1-1, 0-0-0 MVC)
Sunday, Aug. 24 - Purdue Fort Wayne (0-1-1) - 1 p.m.

Next Up in Valpo Soccer: The Beacons open up their eight-match home slate Sunday afternoon, welcoming Purdue Fort Wayne to Brown Field for the first of a three-match homestand.

Previously: Valpo posted an 0-1-1 record on opening weekend, falling 2-1 at Detroit Mercy on a late penalty kick before drawing 1-1 at Oakland.

Looking Ahead: The Beacons remain at home next week, taking on Eastern Illinois Thursday evening, Aug. 28 and Wright State Sunday afternoon, Aug. 31. The match against Wright State is part of the program's alumni weekend, welcoming back former players and celebrating the 20-year anniversary of the 2005 Mid-Continent Conference championship side.

Following the Beacons: Both matches this week will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Todd Ickow and Danny Jeftich on the call, and will have live stats available via ValpoAthletics.com. All home matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+ as part of The Valley on ESPN, while select road fixtures will also have live video available. 

Head Coach John Marovich: In his 18th season at the helm of the Valpo program, John Marovich holds a 136-132-50 (.506) record both overall and at Valpo as a head coach. The 2014 Horizon League Coach of the Year and the head of the 2022 MVC Coaching Staff of the Year, Marovich holds Valpo's all-time records for both victories and winning percentage.

Series Notes: Valpo holds a 13-6-1 advantage in the all-time series over the Mastodons, but it has been Purdue Fort Wayne coming away victorious in the last four meetings, as Valpo's last win came in 2017. The last meetings were a home-and-home series in 2022 (at Valpo) and 2023 (at Purdue Fort Wayne), both of which the Mastodons claimed by 1-0 finals. The match on Brown Field was notable for Purdue Fort Wayne securing the victory thanks to a saved penalty with 0:00 showing on the clock.

Scouting the Opposition: The Mastodons sit at 0-1-1 on the season as well, battling to a scoreless draw against Akron and falling 2-1 to Chicago State. Goalkeeper Jordan Imes was named Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week after stopping seven shots in the clean sheet against the Zips, while Morgan Gallagher found the back of the net against the Cougars.

Preseason Honoree: Senior Molly O'Rear represented the Beacons as she earned preseason First Team All-MVC accolades. O'Rear has been a constant presence in the midfield for Valpo over her first three seasons, appearing in 56 matches and making 49 starts while playing a total of 3,579 minutes. She was an MVC All-Freshman Team selection as a rookie in 2022, when she scored four goals and tallied a pair of assists. O'Rear was a vital component of the program's MVC regular season title in 2022 and the team's MVC Tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2023.

Who's Back: 13 position players and one goalkeeper who saw action in 2024 for Valpo return in 2025, including seven regular starters.

Who's Gone: The Beacons will need to replace nearly half of their minutes played from last season, most notably the departure of graduate Addy Joiner, who finished her decorated career among the program's all-time leading goal scorers.

Who's New: Chomping at the bit to be the next group of Beacons to get Valpo back to among the MVC's best are 11 newcomers to the roster in 2025. The group of first-year players on Union Street include seven true freshmen and four transfers - three from other Division I programs and one from junior college.

Back on the Scoresheet: Molly O'Rear converted Valpo's penalty kick in the 61st minute at Oakland on Sunday for her fifth career goal. It had been a long time coming, though, as each of O'Rear's previous four goals came during her freshman campaign. The goal against the Grizzlies was her first since finding the back of the net against Indiana State Oct. 23, 2022.

Taking the Spot Kick: When O'Rear took the ball for the PK at Oakland, it was the first time in nearly three years a player other than Addy Joiner had attempted a penalty for Valpo. Joiner had the last five attempts - converting all of them - between the 2022, 2023 and 2024 seasons. The last Valpo player other than Joiner to attempt a penalty prior to Sunday was Kelsie James on Sept. 9, 2022.

Scoring Early: It took the Valpo attack less than 11 minutes into the season to find the back of the net in the season opener at Detroit Mercy, as Alyssa Thomas headed home a cross from Tatum Coleman. Thomas' goal came in her Beacon debut, the second straight season Valpo has had a player score in her debut in the Brown and Gold - Ashley Trippeer did so in last year's season opener at Chicago State. Coleman's assist was her first collegiate point as well.

Starting in the XI: Over half of Valpo's starting eleven in the season opener at Detroit Mercy were making the first start of their respective collegiate careers. Thomas and Alex Arnold were both transfers starting in their first match at Valpo, while Coleman and Kennedy Hill were given their first starts in their third and fourth, respectively, seasons as Beacons. To cap it off, freshmen Lily Printz and Hannah Seiler earned starting assignments in the first match of their collegiate careers.

More Debuts: In addition to the pair of freshmen in the starting lineup at Detroit Mercy, four more rookies made their collegiate debuts off the bench against the Titans — Kiara Desiderio (who would go on to earn her first collegiate start at Oakland), Martha Goddard, Ashley Harvatin and Brylie Walos.

Going the Full 90 x2: Three players played the full 180 minutes for the Beacons on opening weekend. Kate Sheridan saw all the action in goal, while directly in front of her, Ashley Trippeer and Hannah Seiler went the distance against both the Titans and the Golden Grizzlies.

Run of Play Defense: While Valpo surrendered three goals over its first two matches, none of them came against the Beacons in the run of play - two were penalties, and the third a free kick from just outside the 18. Over the course of the two matches, taking away those three efforts, Valpo gave up just five shots on goal.

On the Horizon: Valpo is getting a heavy dose of Horizon League competition early in the 2025 campaign. Having already played Detroit Mercy and Oakland last weekend, the Beacons make it three straight HL foes with Sunday's matchup against Purdue Fort Wayne. Then next Sunday's match against Wright State means Valpo opens the season with four Horizon League opponents in its first five matches.

Valley Adjustments: The round-robin Missouri Valley Conference slate has been shortened by one match this season, as with the departure of Missouri State, the MVC has a nine-game conference schedule for its 10 teams. In addition, the conference tournament will feature the top-six teams in the regular season standings, an adjustment from what was previously an eight-team field.

Looking for Nonconference Success: Valpo is looking to continue its run of successful results prior to conference play that it has enjoyed over the past few years. Last year's side posted a 4-4-0 record in nonconference action, the fourth time in the last five seasons the Beacons finished .500 or better in nonconference play.

Looking Back at Last Year: The Beacons finished the 2024 campaign with a 4-13-1 overall record, including a win over eventual Horizon League regular season and tournament champion Milwaukee. Beset by injuries, Valpo had 41% of its field minutes played by freshmen during the 2024 season - only one other MVC program had more than 25% of its field player minutes played by freshmen.