Oct. 2, 2014

Schedule | Roster | Twitter | | #AllieStrong

SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State (4-3-2, 1-0-0) will return to Missouri Valley Conference play on Saturday as the Bears host Drake (2-5-2, 0-0-0) at 7 p.m., at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium. MSU opened the conference schedule two weeks ago Friday with a road shutout victory at Central Arkansas. Since that game, every Valley team outside of Drake has played one of their six MVC matches.

Saturday marks the sixth consecutive match for Drake away from their Cownie Soccer Complex home. On this recent road swing, the Bulldogs are 1-3-1, and have not played in Iowa since Sept. 8. DU most recently played out west with games at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara in California. On the other side, Missouri State will play in front of the home crowd for the third consecutive match.

These two conference foes have played several close games throughout the years. With last season's 2-0 shutout, the Bears claimed the slight edge in the season series, 12-11-5. Since 2009, however, Missouri State has held the advantage, 5-1-1.

In addition to Saturday's game being the conference home opener for the Bears, Missouri State has announced the game will be dedicated to Allie Alvstad of the MSU softball team. On Sept. 1, Alvstad (Tulsa, Okla.) was admitted to the hospital, and four days later was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow in the body. Alvstad began chemotherapy on Sept. 9 and is awaiting a bone marrow transplant once the chemotherapy has done its job.

Fans are encouraged to wear orange to in support of Alvstad and MSU athletics will be accepting donations in support of Alvstad. Admission will be free for all fans and the first 200 people to donate will receive a special #AllieStrong orange bracelet. Missouri State men's soccer has also received news that an anonymous donor will match donations made throughout the game up to $500. Additional donation information is available at the link above.