Freshman Will Ziegahn came off the bench to score two goals and goalkeeper Lance Parker recorded his fifth shutout of the season as the Missouri State men’s soccer team defeated Eastern Illinois, 2-0, in the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at Plaster Field. Ziegahn scored a goal in each half, as the Bears broke a three game losing streak and improved to 6-4-2 on the season and 1-0 in MVC play. Eastern Illinois fell to 8-3 and 0-1 on the season.
Ziegahn got the Bears on the board in the 39th minute, as he took a cross from fellow freshman Kyle Windmueller and nailed a six-yarder past Panther goalkeeper Mark Hansen to the left post. The eventual game winner was Ziegahn’s second goal of the season and gave the Bears a 1-0 halftime lead. The freshman from Anchorage, Alaska, scored his third goal of the season in the 67th minute when he stole a ball from an EIU defender and fired a 10-yarder into the back of the net.
Missouri State narrowly missed two other scoring opportunities in the match. Junior Ryan Anderson hit the crossbar on a free kick in the 33rd minute and sophomore Justin Alford also hit the crossbar on a one-timer in the 74th minute. Eastern Illinois had two second half scoring chances, but could not capitalize. In the 48th minute, the Panthers’ Brad Peters shot a ball past Parker, but sophomore defender Kellington Boddie was in back-up and denied an EIU goal. Peters again missed a chance to even the score in the 67th minute, when he fired a shot high with an empty net as Parker was out of position. Ziegahn scored his second goal less than a minute later and the Bears never looked back.
The shot totals were nearly identical, as EIU narrowly outshot the Bears, 16-15. The Panthers also held the advantage in shots on goal, 5-4. Peters fired eight shots for EIU, including three shots on goal. Parker came up big in goal for the Bears with four saves, as he improved to 5-3-2 with his fifth shutout of the season. The Bears were balanced on offense as Ziegahn, Windmueller, and Anderson recorded three shots apiece, with Alford and junior Danny May each adding two.
Missouri State will host perennial national and MVC power Creighton University on Wednesday, Oct. 4, in a 7 p.m. match at Plaster Field. The Bluejays, who lost in the national quarterfinals a season ago, have been ranked as high as eighth nationally this season by the NSCAA.
