The Missouri State men's soccer team (4-5-2, 2-0-1) will continue their longest home stand in three years when Evansville (5-7-1, 1-2-0) comes to town on Wednesday evening. The Bears and Purple Aces will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Plaster Field.
Last season, Missouri State faced Evansville on three occasions. The Bears won both regular season matches, 1-0, including the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title-clinching match on November 4. But the Purple Aces rebounded and snuck past the Bears in the MVC Tournament semis with a 2-1 overtime win.
The Bears are currently riding a 10-game unbeaten streak in regular season conference play dating back to October 7, 2009. Missouri State kept the streak alive with a penalty kick goal in the 89th minute of Saturday's match with Drake. The Bears sit tied atop the MVC standings at 2-0-1.
Evansville was chosen as the preseason conference favorite, but at 1-2-0 in the MVC so far this season, the Purple Aces are mired in the bottom half of the conference standings.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Riggs has recorded the decision in each match of the Bears' streak. He owns a 0.84 goals against average, the best mark among full-time Valley starting keepers.
Heath Melugin leads the Bears' offense with four goals this season. He scored the lone Missouri State goal in the MVC Tournament against Evansville last season.
"This is going to be a very big game for both teams," said head coach Jon Leamy. "We need to put together 90 minutes of good effort and good play and hopefully we'll get some points."
Missouri State will continue the home stand with nonconference foe Memphis on Tuesday, October 26, and conference rival Bradley on Saturday, October 30. Both matches begin at 7:00 p.m.
