SPRINGFIELD – After missing out on the tournament a season ago, the No. 2 seeded Missouri State women's soccer team will go head-to-head against the Loyola Ramblers in the semifinal round of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Friday, Nov. 3 at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium.
 

MVC CHAMPIONSHIP: Missouri State (8-9-1, 4-2-1 MVC) vs. Loyola (13-6, 4-3 MVC)
Date & Time	Friday, Nov. 3 | 6 p.m.
Location	Springfield, Mo.
Site	Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium
Follow Along	Live Stats • ESPN3
Missouri State	Game Notes | 2017 MVC Championship Program | 2017 Record Book | Women's Soccer Home Page | Twitter

 
Missouri State Quick Kicks

• After not making the tournament last season, Missouri State enters the 2017 MVC Championship as the No. 2 seed. The Bears have been the only team in the league to halt the Drake Bulldogs as the teams tied, 0-0, at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium (Oct. 17).
• Making 69 starts in her Missouri State career, senior Mary Disidore has accumulated an astounding 6,088 minutes on the pitch. She has started all but two matches as a Bear and has tallied 17 points.
• Junior Brooke Prondzinski leads the Missouri State offense with five goals and 11 points on the season. Prondzinski netted the 11^th goal of her career in the Bears' regular-season finale against Illinois State, also marking her second game-winner of the season.
• The Missouri State defense has tallied 87 saves this season, which ties for second in the Valley. Goalkeepers Lexi Palacio and Kaitlin Maxwell have combined for 85 saves while two Bears stepped up to grab defensive stops.
• Freshman Lexi Palacio leads the MSU goalkeepers with 44 saves and a .800 save percentage. She has recorded three shutouts over 811 minutes in goal and boasts a 3-3-1 record. Palacio recorded a season-high 11 saves against Drake on Oct. 17.
• MSU will host the conference tournament for the fourth time since the program's inception in 1996. It was the host for the 1997, 1999 and 2011 tournaments as well.

The Opponents

• As the No. 3 seed in the 2017 MVC Championship, Loyola enters Friday's match 13-6 overall. The Ramblers downed Valparaiso 2-1 at home on Sunday to advance to the semifinal round. The Bears and Ramblers squared off earlier in the season and Loyola ran away with a 5-0 win.
• Junior standout Jenna Szczesny leads the squad with a league-leading 14 goals and 33 points. The Ramblers have rank second in the nation with 46 goals scored and have put up an impressive 168 points.
• Goalkeeper Maddie Ford has seen the majority of time in goal and has tallied 65 saves over 1,551 minutes. Ford is 12-6 on the season and maintains a .714 save percentage.
• The Ramblers are led by head coach Barry Bimbi, who is in his seventh season as the helm for Loyola.

Series History
Already meeting this season, Loyola holds a slim, 3-2 series lead over the Bears. The two squads met up in Chicago on Oct. 1, where Loyola blanked the Bears, 5-0. Missouri State won the first two matches in the series and Loyola has claimed the last three. The Bears are 1-1 at home against Loyola and MSU's last victory against the Ramblers was a 2-1 decision at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium back in 2014.
 
Final Details
Kickoff in the semifinal round is slated for 6:00 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ESPN3. Live stats, as well as live updates, will be available for the contest. The winner of the match will advance to the championship on Sunday, Nov. 5, to play the winner of Drake and UNI. For all the latest information on the Missouri State women's soccer team, visit missouristatebears.com or follow @MSUBearsWSoccer on Twitter.