Valpo (6-8-2, 2-4-1 MVC)
Sunday, Nov. 1 - UIC (2-10-3, 1-5-1 MVC) - 1 p.m.

Next Up in Valpo Soccer: The final home match of the 2026 regular season for the Valpo soccer team is a big one, as the Beacons fight for a spot in the top-six and a berth in the MVC Tournament when they take the field against UIC.

Previously: The Beacons fell by a 3-0 final in MVC action at Belmont last Saturday afternoon. The Bruins scored goals in the 45th, 50th and 57th minutes.

Looking Ahead: Valpo closes out the regular season next Thursday, Nov. 5 at Illinois State.

Following the Beacons: Sunday's match will be broadcast live on ESPN+, and live stats will be available at 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 19th season at the helm of the Valpo program, John Marovich holds a 147-147-55 (.500) 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 is Valpo's all-time leader in victories.

Series Notes: Valpo holds a slim 4-3-2 advantage in the all-time series against the Flames. Last season's matchup in Chicago saw Kiara Desiderio score in the fourth minute to give the Beacons an early lead, but UIC got the goal back in the 61st minute of an eventual 1-1 draw.

Scouting the Opposition: UIC enters Sunday's showdown with a 2-10-3 overall record and a 1-5-1 mark in MVC play, but that one win came last time out for the Flames - a 3-1 win over UNI. That three-goal performance snapped a stretch of five straight matches being shut out. Grace Lisota has scored a team-best three goals this season, while in goal, Sidney Lazenby has played the majority of the minutes and owns a 1.09 GAA and a .769 save percentage.

A Look at the Table: With just two match days left in the regular season, every point is vital as teams battle for a spot in the six-team MVC Tournament. If the season were to end today, the Beacons would be in the tournament field as the sixth seed, as they're level on points with Evansville and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. 

To Score or Not to Score: It's been pretty simple most of the season for the Beacons - if they score, they're in good shape for a result. They have scored at least one goal in nine of their 16 matches and own a 6-1-2 record in those matches. On the other hand, they've been held scoreless on seven occasions, resulting in seven of their eight defeats.

Five-Spot: Valpo put five goals in the back of the net against Evansville in the 5-1 win, a season best for the Beacons, besting a pair of four-goal outputs earlier in the year. It was the first time Valpo has had at least three matches in a season with four or more goals since 2006. It was the Beacons' highest goal total and largest margin of victory since an identical 5-1 score line last season at Western Illinois.

Big Conference Output: The four-goal win matches the program's largest margin of victory in a conference match since joining the MVC, tying a 4-0 win over UIC in 2022 and a 5-1 win over Indiana State in 2018. It was just the second time in program history Valpo has scored at least five goals in a conference match that ended 11-v-11, joining a 6-2 win at Youngstown State in 2000. The aforementioned 5-1 2018 triumph over Indiana State saw Valpo score four goals after the Sycamores picked up a red card in the 74th minute, while a 6-0 win at Youngstown State in 2015 was aided by a YSU red card in the 44th minute, after which Valpo scored four of its goals.

Martha on the Mark: Sophomore Martha Goddard continued her stellar second season with the Beacons in the win over Evansville with a brace, evening the match in the 23rd minute before adding an insurance tally from the penalty spot in the 64th minute. Goddard has now scored nine goals this season, second among MVC players and good for 49th nationally. The sophomore cracked Valpo's single-season top-10 chart with her first goal of the match and now sits in a tie for seventh-most goals in a season in program history, while also moving onto the single-season points chart with 19 points.

Brace Brace Brace: The effort from Goddard versus Evansville was her third multi-goal match of the season, as she had previously scored twice in wins over Western Illinois and Oakland. She became the first Valpo player since Kendall Brown in 2005 to record three braces in the same season. That brace against Oakland came alongside a brace from classmate Kiara Desiderio as well, which was the first time since October 2006 Valpo has had two players scored multiple goals.

Ki With the Key Goal: For the fourth time this season, Goddard and Desiderio scored in the same match, as Desiderio delivered what would be the match-winning goal against Evansville in the 33rd minute. With seven goals this year, Desiderio is now just one shy of cracking the single-season top-10, while her 14 career goals are just one away from the program's career top-10 as well.

Seven Up: With her goal against the Purple Aces, Desiderio currently sits in a tie for fourth among the conference leaders with her seven goals. Combined with netting seven goals last season, Desiderio became just the fifth player in program history to score seven or more goals in back-to-back seasons, joining Lori Moore, April Cronin, Cory Griffith and Addy Joiner. Of that group, Desiderio is the only one to do so in her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Rock On, Raco: Freshman Sofia Raco found the back of the net for the second time in a three-match stretch in the win over Evansville with a stellar solo strike in the 51st minute. The rookie is third on the team with eight points, as she also scored the match-winner at Purdue Fort Wayne and converted against UNI as well to go with two assists. Raco has also been seeing much more playing time as the season has gone on, as after averaging 51.2 minutes/match in the season's first six matches, she's played 72 minutes/match in the last ten, including the first 90-minute effort of her career last time out at Belmont.

Off the Mark: Raco wasn't the only member of Valpo's freshman class to score against Evansville, as Ivy Barba finished off the win with an 83rd-minute goal for her first collegiate goal. The two freshmen are two of four Valpo players to score their first collegiate goal this season, as senior Daisy Boardman did so at SIUE and sophomore Brylie Walos opened the scoring in the win over Western Illinois.

Some Love for the Helpers: The Beacons tallied four assists in their win over the Purple Aces. Daisy Boardman's assist on the opener was her second of the season and the fourth of her career. Alyssa Thomas delivered the assist on the eventual match-winner, her team-best fourth helper of the season. She has five assists in her two seasons with the Beacons and six total for her collegiate career. Lily Printz had the primary assist on the final goal of the day, her second of the year, while Brylie Walos' secondary assist was her third assist of the season and fourth of her career.

Two Goal Scorers: This season is one of just four in program history in which Valpo has had a pair of players score seven or more goals. In 2016, April Cronin tallied eight goals and Cory Griffith seven; the 2009 squad saw both Rachel Hoaglin and Jackie Kondratko find the back of the net seven times; and the 2005 team featured Emily King's 11 goals and Kendall Brown's 10 goals.

First-Time Honoree: While Desiderio earned her third career weekly honor from the MVC office with her Player of the Week accolade Sept. 14 after her three-goal, one-assist week, senior Daisy Boardman earned a weekly award for the first time as she was recognized as the MVC Defender of the Week. Boardman played 170 of a possible 180 minutes at right back as the Beacons surrendered just one goal over their final two nonconference wins, while adding her first assist of the season on the attack versus Oakland. Boardman was just the third Valpo player to be honored as Defender of the Week since the Valley broke goalkeeper and defender into two separate weekly awards starting in 2023.

Multiple Weekly Winners: Desiderio and Boardman teamed up to mark the seventh time multiple Valpo players have earned MVC weekly accolades in the same week since Valpo joined the Valley. It was the first such instance since Sept. 26, 2022, when Addy Joiner, Nikki Coryell and Nicole Norfolk swept the player, goalkeeper and defender weekly honors.

Nonconference Success: With wins in each of their final two nonconference fixtures, the Beacons closed out their nonconference slate at .500 with a 4-4-1 record. This is the fifth time in the last seven seasons that Valpo has finished .500 or better in the nonconference schedule.