The 2000 season was the first for the Purple Aces in 2,500-seat Arad McCutchan Stadium, providing UE Soccer with one of the finest facilities in the nation used exclusively for soccer. McCutchan Stadium was built 34 years ago as a football stadium. Its transition to a soccer arena began after the University discontinued football in 1997. A two-year process to transform the field to precise soccer standards resulted in an outstanding playing surface for players, and an outstanding viewing area for fans.
McCutchan Stadium is located on the north end of the University of Evansville campus, and includes an enclosed press box, locker rooms, a weight room and offices. Located next to it is the Student Recreation & Fitness Center, and Carson Center, where most athletics department offices are located.
Soccer's move to McCutchan was the first phase of the major facilities project that produced the Athletic Recreation Complex on the UE campus. Now four of UE's major outdoor sports--men's soccer, women's soccer, baseball and softball--have permanent stadiums on campus for the first time.
Evansville has hosted more post-season soccer tournaments than any other school in the Missouri Valley Conference, including 12 NCAA Tournament matches. Evansville hosted an MVC Soccer Tournament in each of its first four years as an MVC member. Men's conference tournaments came to Evansville in 1995 and 1997, in between women's MVC Tournaments in 1996 and 1998. The combination of great fan support and excellent facilities has made UE a popular site for post-season play. Most recently, the stadium played host to the 2013 MVC Women's Soccer Tournament.
In fact, Evansville's NCAA Women's Tournament match at home in 1998 against Northwestern drew more fans than any first-round NCAA match in the nation.
The even better facility is sure to continue Evansville's championship tradition, and make Arad McCutchan Stadium an outstanding venue for future NCAA Tournament matches.