The Missouri State men’s soccer team will travel to Drake on Saturday to open conference play against the Bulldogs. The Bears enter the match with momentum after an impressive home victory against Central Arkansas.
The Bears (3-6-3) have been inconsistent through the first half of the season but have been on the rise in recent weeks.
“We needed to bring our low points up and cut down on the mistakes,” said head coach Jon Leamy.
The Bears have been steadily improving as the season has progressed. The Bears secured their first win of the season against Cal Poly in the Nike Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., (Sept. 12-14). Missouri State went on to win the tournament with a 0-0 tie in double overtime against Akron which was ranked second at the time.
The Bears continued their success over the weekend (Oct. 3-4) in the Comfort Inn and Suites Homecoming Classic with a 2-0 win over Howard and a narrow 1-0 loss to the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. Their tough play and goalkeeper Alex Riggs’ record-tying performance secured them a second place finish in the tournament. Riggs led the Bears’ defense with a tournament record tying 11 saves against the Bulldogs.
The Bears picked up their first home win of the season against the Central Arkansas Bears on Tuesday evening (Oct. 7) with a 2-1 victory. MSU controlled the game with a steady offensive attack that was led by Heath Melugin’s two goals.
“We got a much-needed home win against a great scrappy team,” stated Leamy. “We’re entering our second season with conference play and we have great momentum after the home victory.”
The Bears will open the second half of the season when they face the Drake Bulldogs in Des Moines, Iowa for the conference opener for both teams. The Bulldogs (8-2-0) enter the game a national ranking of 24 and are fourth regionally. Drake is ranked nationally in goals-against-average (0.8) and team scoring offense (1.8) as well as several other categories.
The Bears will face off against the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 11) at Cownie Soccer Complex.
