Year 2 in Division I: What to know about University of Southern Indiana fall sports

EVANSVILLE — The University of Southern Indiana is embarking on its second year of Division I athletics in the Ohio Valley Conference. Year 1 gave the various fall sports teams plenty of lessons and produced some results, with Year 2 yielding new challenges and opportunities for the Screaming Eagles.

Here’s a look at USI’s fall sports and the biggest storylines to follow as the Eagles prepare for the new season.

Women’s soccer looks to build on defensive success

USI has areas to build around heading into its second D-I women’s soccer season. Mia Rose Daly, whose signing with England’s Keynsham Town made her the first Screaming Eagle to play professionally, was a key cog in a defense that conceded the fewest goals in program history. There are a few key returners such as Paige Vanek, Emma Thurston and OVC All-Newcomer honoree Peyton Murphy, but have eight starting spots up for grabs — “this hasn’t been preseason, this has been tryouts,” coach Eric Schoenstein said. USI was picked to finish seventh in the OVC in a poll of the league’s coaches.

USI athletics: What's the Screaming Eagles' AD's message after Year 1 of Division I? 'We can do this'

“It’s been this exciting, new kind of turning-the-page,” Schoenstein said. “I think that’s really brought them together.”

“Our goal is going to be the same every year and it was, last year, to win an OVC championship,” Murphy said. “That’s gonna continue and we set our standards high.”

The Eagles have a crop of local players on their roster this season: freshmen Memorial alumna Lydia Bordfeld and Reitz alumna Charli Miller, redshirt freshman and Castle alumna Abby Rhoutsong and North Posey alumna junior Brooke Coleman. Rhoutsong was expected to play a big part of USI’s defense before being injured. Bordfeld and Miller will add competition in midfield along with Coleman.

Thirteen freshmen in all join USI’s ranks this season and look to carve a role with the open spots in the starting 11.

“We already click as a group really well,” Rhoutsong said. “I think the team and the group that we have this year will be very successful.”

“My family can come to every game and I love having them there,” Bordfeld said of staying in Evansville. “Whenever I visited here and met with the coaches, I just fell in love with the place.”

Three games to watch: vs. North Alabama (1 p.m. Aug. 20), at Miami Ohio (6 p.m. Aug. 31) vs. Morehead State (1 p.m. Oct. 1)

Volleyball looking for progress under new coach Jeffery Aucoin

The USI volleyball team is in the midst of a rebuild entering coach Jeffery Aucoin’s first season. The Eagles finished 1-28 in their first D-I campaign which led to the coaching change, with Aucoin taking over in April.

He looked over some of last season’s matches and saw a team with potential. Aucoin saw it in person with spring scrimmages. He wanted to start taking the right steps — belief, hunger and competition — since he started.

“They worked hard over the course of the summer and hit all the benchmarks that they needed to,” Aucoin said. “We’re looking to set the standard. We’re looking to compete at a high level and we’re looking forward to knocking on some doors in the OVC.”

Players have likewise expressed excitement about the upcoming season and improving on their first D-I year. Everyone passed the preseason fitness tests and has taken on an underdog mantra. Six of last season’s losses came in five sets, so flipping those results is an emphasis in the new year.

“You could see the positive changes we made and how it translated to our spring season,” sophomore Castle alumna Keira Moore said. “I know that we’re all really excited because we saw good outcomes in the spring season, we saw it over summer, so we’re all really excited to prove ourselves.”

Aucoin has a vision for success in his first season: Higher attendance, competing and getting a hard-to-play reputation. The work for those steps began in April and will officially be put to test against New Hampshire on Aug. 25.

“Last season didn’t go as planned and I think we’re really eager to hit it head on,” senior outside hitter Leah Anderson said. “Everyone has been working really hard over the summer. We’re really excited. We’re the underdogs, so we’re ready to get some wins.”

Three games to watch: at Indiana University (9 a.m. Aug. 26), at University of Evansville (7 p.m. Aug. 19), vs. Little Rock (6 p.m. Sept. 22)

Men’s soccer goes through more change with OVC move

The USI men’s soccer team enters its second season of Division I play after finishing 2-12-13 — “I think Year 1 was maybe better than the record indicated,” coach Mat Santoro said, referencing the growth and experience the Eagles got in the transition. Year 2 has more change, with USI entering the first season of OVC men’s soccer after spending last season in the Summit League.

The realignment allows the Eagles to play for a championship since the Summit League didn’t allow first-year D-I programs to compete in the conference tournament.

“We’re gonna have some new opponents, still some really good ones,” Santoro said. “We kinda feel like we’re in our conference, we’re eligible for the postseason. … There’s just that little extra to play for and a little bit more of (a) sense of belonging.”

“We’re joining everybody else at USI in the OVC,” Castle alumnus forward Jackson Mitchell said. “We think it’s a good conference for us to be in and we can compete in this conference and do very well.”

USI was picked to finish sixth in a poll of the league’s coaches with midfielder Nick Faddis tabbed on the players to watch list. His two-way play was crucial to the Eagles’ successes in Year 1 and should help with the next steps.

“I think a big part of that goes to my team. Without them, that means nothing,” Faddis said. “A lot of it comes down to keeping the ball on the ground and passing through.”

Santoro will set his team to play a possession-based system to get more shots than they got last season. That style and its implementation will be key for USI’s success in OVC play.

“We want to see progress. Part of that is, of course, the win-loss record,” Santoro said. “There is to it, just to see that kind of maturity. … Just being able to see us take another step in this level where we have more possession each game, we give ourselves chances to win more games.

“Some of the results may or may not go out way, but we want to see that we are raising our level year after year.”

Three games to watch: at Akron (7 p.m. Sept. 4), vs. University of Evansville (7 p.m. Sept. 9), vs. Southern Illinois- Edwardsville (7 p.m. Sept. 28)

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles: What to know about the fall season