The Missouri State men's soccer team (6-5-2, 3-0-1) wrapped up the non-conference slate with a 2-0 shutout of Memphis (3-10-1) at Plaster Field on Tuesday night.
The Bears took the lead in the 12th minute on a nice combination of passes. David Buckenheimer centered the ball to Dan Williams at the top of the box. Williams one-touched the ball forward past the defenders where Heath Melugin ran on to it and beat the Tigers' keeper. The goal was Melugin's team-leading sixth of the year.
Missouri State continued to control the ball and play the remainder of the half and were outshooting Memphis four to two at halftime.
The Bears doubled the lead in the 65th minute. Junior Gerard Barbero took a free kick from near midfield. He floated the ball into the box and Eric Martin headed the ball past Memphis' keeper for his first goal of the season.
Senior goalkeeper Alex Riggs was relatively untested in the shutout win. He made three saves, all in the second half. The shutout is Riggs' sixth of the year and seventh for Missouri State.
Paul Paradise led all Bears with three shots in the match. Martin added two for Missouri State.
"Memphis came out strong tonight and I think we weathered the storm early tonight," stated head coach Jon Leamy. "We got into a rhythm and it was great to get the goals tonight."
The Bears wrap up the current four-game home stand against conference rival Bradley on Saturday, October 30, at 7:00 p.m. Then a trip to No. 9 Creighton next Wednesday, November 3 awaits before Missouri State's regular season finale against SIU Edwardsville on Saturday, November 6. The Bears' 7:00 p.m. match with SIUE is the "Living Our Legacy" match to benefit the Ozarks Honor Flight.
