Box Score | Season Stats
 
SPRINGFIELD – An early goal by Scott Midgley started the momentum for the Missouri State men's soccer team (6-3-1), as the Bears defeated Eastern Illinois (2-8-1), 3-0, on Wednesday (Oct. 5).
 
"We've been on a good run and it has a lot to do with teamwork," commented associate head coach Michael Seabolt. "We do a lot of pressing, squeezing the field, defending hard and then attacking as a group."
 
MSU's Scott Midgley fired the first shot of the game for either team in the seventh minute of the match, dribbling around his defender inside the right side of the box and sneaking the ball past the keeper, just inside the left post.
 
Missouri State held the Panthers to zero shots in the first half, while six different Bears tested EIU's goalkeeper, Mike Novotny. Novotny collected three saves in the half, swatting away shots by MSU's Jake Laird, Tyler Swanner and Jordy Robins within 10 minutes of the goal netted by Midgley.
 
In the second half, the Panthers pushed at the Bears' defense, taking their first shot of the match in the 51^st minute to have it blocked by a MSU defender.
 
In the 56^th minute of the match, MSU goalkeeper, Liam Priestley, faced his first shots of the night in the net. EIU's Jonathan Huerta took his six shot attempt of the season, sending the ball through multiple players to find the hands of Priestley, who batted the ball away. Six seconds later, EIU's Davis Wegmann tried to sneak the ball past Priestley, but the keeper jumped on top to keep the Panthers off the board.
 
A plethora of Bears substituted into the match in the 59^th minute in an attempt to make a run on the Panthers. In the 63^rd minute of the match, Tyler Swanner and Emmerich Hoegg had the advantage on the EIU defense, as Swanner fed Hoegg the ball entering the home-third of the pitch. Hoegg forced EIU's Novotny out of the box, allowing him to net his team-leading third goal of the season and the 16^th of his career.
 
Only four more shots would be taken in the match, including two from MSU's Jack Griffin, one from freshman Mitch Langton and the final shot leaving the foot of Harry Lewis, and falling into the back of the net, to put the Bears ahead, 3-0, with 14 seconds left on the clock.
 
With Wednesday's shutout victory, the Bears match their season win total from a year ago and MSU keeper, Liam Priestley, now leads the Missouri Valley Conference in goals against average (0.59).
 
Missouri State will play host to Central Arkansas on Saturday (Oct. 8) to begin a four-game stint of Missouri Valley Conference competition. The battle between the Bears is set to kick off at 7 p.m. from Allison South Stadium.