ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's quest to earn a home game in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament hits the road for the final time in the 2015 regular season this weekend when the Miners head to Indiana for a pair of contests against two other teams also looking to earn a spot in the top four in the league standings.
The Miners, winners of three straight games and five of their last six, will face Indianapolis Friday in a 7:30 p.m. (Eastern time) contest before heading up Interstate 65 to take on Saint Joseph's in a 2:30 p.m. match Sunday in Rensselaer, Ind.
Missouri S&T and Indianapolis are currently part of a four-way tie for second place in the GLVC in terms of winning percentage, as the Miners are 8-4 in league play and the Greyhounds come into Friday's match at 7-3-2 in the GLVC. Meanwhile, Saint Joseph's sits one game behind that quartet at 7-5 prior to its Friday game with Drury – who like UIndy is 7-3-2 in the league.
S&T shut out all three of its opponents last week to keep themselves in the mix for that opening round game, which will go to the top four finishers in the standings, to improve to 9-6 overall on the year.
James Holloway (Cape Girardeau, Mo./Notre Dame Regional) picked up two of the shutouts in goal, bookending one by
Nick Posey (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) in the win over Lewis, as the Miners have blanked four foes over the last six games.
Posey, who has started in 12 of S&T's 15 games, enters the week sporting a 1.17 goals against average.
The Miners possess the top two scorers in the GLVC in
Eduardo Abichabki (Sao Jose do Rio Pardo, Brazil/Colegio Unigrau), who had points in all three games last week and has 19 on the season with eight goals and three assists, while
Felipe Andrade (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) is second with 17 points on six goals and five assists. Abichabki scored the game-winner in overtime against Lindenwood last Wednesday, then added his league-best eighth goal Friday after Andrade gave S&T the lead in the first half against Lewis.
Indianapolis brings an 8-4-2 overall mark into the week and has been one of the stingiest teams in the league, posting a team goals against average of 0.74 behind goalkeeper Christopher Jones. On Sunday, Jones – who has played every minute in goal for UIndy this season – picked up his school record eighth shutout of the season in a 4-0 win over William Jewell.
Jacob Meyer leads the Greyhounds in scoring with six goals and 14 points, while Josh Ling has added four goals.
Saint Joseph's has vaulted into playoff contention this season on the strength of its play in close games, as the Pumas are 7-3 in contests decided by one goal and have won two overtime games. However, 12
th-ranked Rockhurst handed Saint Joseph's a 9-0 loss on Sunday which included seven goals in the second half in a span of 20 minutes.
Sebastian Quinteros and Jannik Schmidt lead the Pumas (8-6) in goals with three apiece, while goalkeeper Adam Whybrow has a 1.61 goals against average and 61 saves in 1,288 minutes of playing time.
