Nov. 5, 2015
| Watch Free | Championship Central
SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State men's soccer team (5-5-5, 2-2-1 MVC) will finish its regular-season here Saturday when Central Arkansas (2-13-1, 1-4 MVC) travels to MSU for the final weekend of Missouri Valley Conference contests leading up to the MVC tournament. Kickoff for Saturday's match is set for 7 p.m.
The MSU Bears are 3-0-2 at home this season and own a 4-1 series lead over the UCA Bears since the program joined the league in 2010. The last meeting between the two programs was a 1-0 MSU win in Conway, Ark., on Sept. 19, 2014. Emmerich Hoegg was perfectly positioned on a first-half rebound to collect the game's only goal and help MSU grab its first conference win of the 2014 campaign.
There are two other conference matches to be played this Saturday evening, each with tournament implications. The MVC pre-season favorite and tournament host, SIU Edwardsville, will entertain Loyola while Bradley ventures to Drake. SIUE and Bradley are currently tied for first, while Drake is in third. SIUE has the tiebreaker over Bradley in the event of a head-to-head. MSU currently stands in fifth-place in league standings. The Bears can finish as high as the No. 4 seed (with a win over UCA and a Loyola loss or tie at SIUE) and no worse than No. 5 (with a loss against UCA and Loyola victory or tie against SIUE).
The Bears could tie for third in the league with Drake with a Bradley win over the Bulldogs and an MSU win over UCA; however, Drake has the head-to-head tiebreaker over MSU that would ultimately grant the Bears the No. 4 seed. No matter the outcome of Saturday's match, UCA is cemented as the No. 6 seed in next week's MVC championship.
The three seniors on the squad - Brandon Barbero, Jon Boyack, and James Thomas - will be recognized in a brief pregame ceremony on Saturday. MSU's Traditions Council will also be providing free hot chocolate and mugs to the first 100 students in attendance.
Admission for the match is free for MSU students with a valid I.D. and children ages 12 and under. Admission for MSU faculty and staff is $2 and tickets for all other adults are $5.
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