SPRINGFIELD – For the third time this season, and second time in five days, the Missouri State men's soccer team (8-7-2, 3-4-1 MVC) will face the Central Arkansas Bears (7-7-2, 4-3-1 MVC), to begin its run in the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Men's Soccer Championship.
 
Tickets are available exclusively at the stadium entry gate on tournament game days. Single-game tickets are $5 for students and $10 for adults, while all-tournament passes are available for $25. Gates will open an hour before kickoff.
 
Match Information:
No. 5 Missouri State Bears vs. No. 4 Central Arkansas Bears, 6 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 9
Location: Springfield, Mo.
Site: Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium
Live Stats | The Valley On ESPN3 | Championship Central
 
Series History
Missouri State holds the all-time record, 8-3-1, and suffered just its first loss in the last five meetings on Saturday (Nov. 5). This will be the first postseason match-up between the two programs. Earlier this season at Allison South Stadium, senior Tyler Swanner snuck the ball past UCA's goalkeeper, Marc Olsen, to give MSU its third-straight victory and sixth shutout.
 
Quick Kicks

• The Missouri State Bears will host the MVC Men's Soccer Championship for the first time on the campus, and first time since 1998 when the Bears hosted the event at Cooper Soccer Complex. MSU has lost just two matches at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium (14-2-5) since the home facility opened in 2014, including one against Evansville in this season's home finale (Oct. 29).
• After suffering a loss to Central Arkansas in the regular-season finale on Saturday (Nov. 5), MSU locked into the No. 5 spot in the upcoming championship. It marks the lowest seed the Bears have been granted in the postseason tournament since the 2007 season, when MSU was the sixth and final team to make the league tournament. In 2012, MSU was unable to win a league match and did not advance to the MVC Men's Soccer Championship.
• Every Missouri State student-athlete that has seen the pitch this season, has registered a shot for the Bears. Emmerich Hoegg, Stuart Wilkin, Mike Lightbourne, Jake Buckle and Phil Woods account for 114 of the Bears' 206 shots on the year. As a team, Missouri State ranks third in the MVC in the category behind Central Arkansas and Loyola.
• Defender Robbie Oslica is second on the team in goals (3) and has been the only defender to score for the Bears this season. In 2015, the Ozark, Mo., native was named to the MVC All-Tournament Team due to his performance in MSU's 1-0 loss to Loyola in the quarterfinal match.
• MSU goalkeeper, Liam Priestley, and the Bears' defense, have allowed just 15 goals in 2016, the third-fewest in the MVC. The junior keeper has an overall goals against average of 0.85, while registering 42 saves.
• Emmerich Hoegg leads the team in goals this season with four and is one game-winning goal away from becoming the all-time career leader in the category in MSU program history. He is currently tied for first in career game-winners with men's soccer legends Matt Caution and Brad Jordan.

 
Scouting the Opponent
The Central Arkansas Bears will make an appearance in the MVC Men's Soccer Championship for the second-consecutive season, and third time in five years, since joining the league in 2011. Central Arkansas is just 2-5 on the road this season, capturing its only wins over Bradley (1-0) and Drake (3-2 OT). The Bears enter Wednesday's match on a two-game win streak, after topping Drake and Missouri State, and have won five of their last six, drawing with SIUE (0-0).
 
Follow the Bears
For more information on the Missouri State men's soccer team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow the Bears on Twitter (@MSUBearsMSoccer).