The Missouri State men’s soccer team returns home after a big championship victory in the Nike Classic/New Mexico Tournament to host Valparaiso this Friday (Sept. 19). The Valparaiso Crusaders enter the match with a 3-3-0 record.
The Bears return home after an impressive performance at the Nike Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. The Bears finished the tournament with a 1-0-1 record after securing a victory against Cal Poly and a tie against second-ranked Akron. The victory against Cal Poly was the first of the season for the Bears. Both games went into overtime including the double overtime 0-0 tie against Akron. The Bears have entered overtime in half of their games this season including two double overtime appearances.
The Bears play host to the Valparaiso Crusaders on Friday who enter the game with a .500 record for the season. The Crusaders were 1-1-0 last weekend (Sept. 12-14) in the ProRehab Aces Soccer Classic in Evansville, Ind. The Crusaders defeated Bradley 1-0 in the opening night of the tournament (Sept. 12) and lost to host Evansville 3-1 in their last game of the tournament (Sept. 14).
The Crusaders are averaging better than 11 shots and almost two goals a game. Tyler Sellers leads the Crusader offense with two goals with a 1.000 shooting percentage. The Crusader defense has been shaky at times, giving up nine goals in just six games and two games with three goals apiece.
“They are going to be a good test for us especially since they just beat Bradley,” said head coach Jon Leamy.
The Bears have tightened up their defense significantly and look to capitalize on their momentum coming off of the Nike Classic championship to take a home win for the first time this season. Injuries forced the Bears to move players around in the defensive backfield and so far the moves have proven to be beneficial to the Bears as a team.
“Since we made some change with new guys we have done well,” stated Leamy. “We still have a ways to go but we definitely got better in the backfield.”
The Bears will be in action against the Crusaders at Plaster Field on Friday (Sept. 19) at 7 p.m.
