Nov. 7, 2015 Final Stats
Final Stats | Regular-Season Stats | MVC Championship Central
SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State men's soccer team (6-5-5, 3-2-1 MVC) scored three goals in the first half and tallied its seventh shutout of the season here Saturday night against Missouri Valley Conference opponent Central Arkansas (2-14-1, 1-5 MVC) in its final contest of the regular-season. With the win over UCA and Loyola's loss to SIU Edwardsville, the Bears have secured the No. 4 seed in the 2015 MVC Men's Soccer Championship.
Senior James Thomas has been electric for the Bears, scoring the game-winning goal in the 25th minute of the match. Teammates Brandon Barbero and Harry Lewis found themselves deep in the box, as Thomas was set up in front of the goal. In a scramble, UCA's goalkeeper tried to stop the ball but Thomas fired from eight yards out. All four of Thomas' goals this season have been recorded in the last four matches.
"This win over is a big confidence booster for us," said Thomas. "Things are finally starting to go our way and the hard work is paying off. This was the stepping stone we needed to end the regular-season on a good note as we head into the conference tournament this week with a clean sheet."
The final two goals for the Bears came from corner kicks. In the 33rd minute of the match, Phil Woods took the corner for MSU while Conor Ingram jumped over the UCA defenders to head the ball past the keeper. A similar situation happened in the 43rd minute as James Routledge took the corner kick for the Bears and in a scramble, MSU's Scott Midgley fired the ball into the back left post.
The Bears' defense kept UCA out of the box for the majority of the match. UCA was allowed just two shots in the entire match. In this season alone, the Bears have held their opponent to five shots or less on three difference occasions. MSU goalkeeper Liam Priestley picked up his seventh shutout of the season, placing him sixth on the single-season shutout list.
Head coach Jon Leamy sees this win giving the Bears a boost of momentum going into the conference tournament.
"To get the shutout and the win at the end of our regular-season is huge for us," said Leamy. "We played a really good first half and we were able to mix in a variety of different players."
With Saturday night's win, the Bears secured the No. 4 seed and will head to Edwardsville, Ill. on Wednesday to play No. 5 Loyola at 6 p.m. in the opening round of the MVC soccer championship. The defending MVC tournament champion, SIU Edwardsville, won the MVC regular-season after topping Loyola 1-0 at home Saturday night and will receive a bye with Valley foe No. 2 Bradley. Drake secured the No. 3 seed and will play No. 6 UCA.
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