SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Liz Young and Andrea Soler Codina each recorded goals in the Missouri State field hockey team's 2-1 victory over Central Michigan Saturday afternoon, marking the Bear's first win in Mid-American Conference play.

"Getting this first conference win feels great," head coach Catherine Ostoich said. "We came out on fire and were passing the ball, taking shots and scoring goals. We didn't play the second half as well as we would have liked to, but the fact that we were able to hold on and win is huge. It's something that we haven't been able to do yet so I'm very proud of the girls."
 
Missouri State came out of the gate scoring its first goal in the second minute of the match. On a breakaway, Young dribbled the ball in from the left side when she successfully fired the Bears' first shot of the match to give Missouri State a 1-0 lead.
 
"It felt really good to start the game strong like that," Young said. "I think it really got our heads in the game and gave us the sort of energy we needed to keep the momentum up and get the win."
 
Four minutes later, Soler Codina netted her fourth goal of the season off a pass from Bianca Mills to further the Bears' lead. In the first half, Missouri State outshot Central Michigan 13-2 with eight shots on goal.
 
Coming out of the half with a 2-0 lead, the Missouri State defense kept Central Michigan off the board until the 55^th minute when Maude Stalars received a pass from the middle and successfully found the back of the cage from a shot 10 yards out.
 
Missouri State's Megan Drew finished the match with three, diving saves as the Chippewas outshot Missouri State 15-5 in the second half. Starting goalkeeper Feli Heinzel earned the win for the Bears, improving to 2-6 on the season.
 
"We are very hopeful that we can get a few more wins this season," added Ostoich. "The great thing is we are still in the running to make the conference tournament so there's plenty of motivation for the girls to keep playing hard."
 
Notable Performances
Liz Young – Young started off the game scoring the first goal of the match for the Bears. Young tallied her fourth goal of the season giving her a total of 10 points on the year.
 
Andrea Soler Codina – Soler Codina registered her fourth goal of the season in the sixth minute off a pass from the left side. The junior leads the team with 11 points.
 
Scoring Summary

• MSU – 2:03, goal off shot from the right side – Liz Young (4)
• MSU – 6:23, goal off shot from the left side – Andrea Soler Codina (4)
• CMU – 55:40, goal off shot from the left side – Maude Stalars (2)

 
Next Up For The Bears
The Bears continue MAC competition at Allison North Stadium Friday, Oct. 23 against Ball State. Friday's match is slated for 3 p.m. Live stats and live updates will be available. For more information on the Missouri State field hockey team visit www.missouristatebears.com, Facebook (Missouri State Field Hockey) or Twitter (MSUBearsFHockey).