Missouri State University men’s soccer head coach Jon Leamy announced today his team’s 2009 schedule.
Missouri State will play nine regular season and one exhibition home match at Plaster Sports Complex. The Bears will have four non-conference and five conference matches at home during the 2009 season. It will be the first year that the Bears will play home and away against all five Missouri Valley Conference opponents.
“There is a new twist to the conference schedule this season,” Leamy remarked. “We will play our conference foes both at home and at their place. It brings another level of excitement to conference play.”
Missouri State will begin the regular season at Tulsa on September 1. The Bears will host UMKC on September 5 as their regular season home opener. The Bears get another road test at Central Arkansas on September 13, before a home match against Centenary on September 16. A trip to Creighton and the SMU Tournament to face Houston Baptist and SMU will end the September portion of the schedule.
“We have a good non-conference schedule,” said Leamy, who begins his 18th season as Bears' head coach. “Even our exhibition schedule with SLU and Missouri S&T is great and will give our guys a good test before the season begins.”
Missouri State will host Denver on October 1, Eastern Illinois on October 4, and Creighton on October 7 to begin a stretch of conference matches. A trip to Bradley and a non-conference home match with Oral Roberts await the Bears before trips to Drake and Evansville in mid-October. The final homestand features Bradley on October 24, Drake on October 31 and Evansville on November 4. The Bears will end the regular season at Eastern Illinois before heading to Des Moines, Iowa, for the State Farm MVC Tournament.
Missouri State will begin the fall slate with an exhibition home match against Missouri S&T on August 18 at 7:00 p.m. The Bears will then travel to St. Louis on August 22 to complete their exhibition schedule.
Missouri State was 7-10-5 last season, going 3-1-1 in conference play. The Bears advanced to the finals of the State Farm MVC Tournament in 2008 before falling to the number one seed, Creighton, in the Championship match.
