SPRINGFIELD – After clinching the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship on Friday (March 26), No. 10 Missouri State (7-0-0, 6-0-0 MVC) continues its three-game road trip with a match at Evansville (0-6-1, 0-4-1 MVC) on Tuesday, March 30 with kickoff set for 6 p.m.
Match Details
Kickoff from Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville, Ind. is set for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30. Live stats and a live stream (ESPN+) of the match are available at MissouriStateBears.com.
For all of the latest information and in game updates on the Missouri State men's soccer team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or follow @MSUBearsMSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
Quick Kicks
- No. 10 Missouri State (7-0-0, 6-0-0 MVC) claimed its second straight Missouri Valley Conference regular-season championship with a 2-0 win at Loyola on Friday, March 26. Back-to-back second-half goals from Aadne Bruseth and Greg Stratton and another shutout performance from the defense sparked the Bears to the title-clinching celebration.
- As the 2020-21 champions, MSU secured the program's ninth overall MVC regular-season crown and its sixth championship in the past 10 years. The Bears previously won conference titles in 1997, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 and 2019 while adding an MVC Tournament championship in 1999. With the top seed locked up for the 2020-21 MVC Tournament, Missouri State will host the semifinal round match at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium. This season's conference tournament is being played at the site of the higher seeds.
- The Bears are one of just seven teams in all of Division I men's soccer to hold a perfect record on the season and boast the most wins (7) among the remaining clubs. It marks the second straight year Missouri State has rattled off seven consecutive wins to begin the season after the 2019 squad became the first DI program to post a perfect regular season (16-0-0) since Akron in 2009.
- The MSU attack leads the nation in corner kicks per game (10.00) with a staggering 70 through seven matches. The Bears have posted double-digit efforts in corner set-pieces in three games this season with 11 against Bradley in the season opener (Feb. 27), 16 against Creighton (March 10) and a season-high 18 in a rematch versus the Braves on March 18.
- Nicolo Mulatero (Jr., F, Givoletto, Italy) paces the Bears' high-flying attack with four goals and five assists in 2021. He recorded his first career brace on against Drake on March 22 and has set up goals in five of MSU's seven matches this season. Mulatero is the conference leader in points (13), goals (4), assists (5) and game-winners (2). Two of his four goals have come by way of a penalty kick where he is a perfect 2-2 on PK attempts.
- Michael Creek (Sr., GK, St. Louis, Mo.) has held opponents scoreless in five of his seven matches while logging all 639:23 goalie minutes. The five clean sheets in 2021 gives him 18 for his career to rank fourth on the program's career shutout list. Creek earned MVC Goalkeeper of the Year in 2019 after finishing the season with seven shutouts and a 0.645 goals against average that ranked ninth in the nation.
- After earning an assist on all three goals in MSU's 3-2 win over Drake on March 22, Aadne Bruseth (Jr., F, Batnfjordsøra, Norway) recorded his first goal of the season Friday at Loyola. In the 48th minute, the Norwegian forward collected a pass sent from the backline and fired in what proved to be the game-winning goal of a 2-0 Bears victory. Bruseth's three-assist effort against the Bulldogs was the most in a single-game for MSU since Jordan Hoffman's three against UMKC on Oct. 18, 2011. His four dimes in 2021 ranks second in the MVC behind teammate Mulatero (5).
- Missouri State swept the MVC weekly awards last week (March 23) with Nicolo Mulatero and Greg Stratton earning Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively. Overall, MSU has garnered six of the conference's weekly awards with previous winners Kyle Hiebert (March 16), Dawson Lee (March 9), and Langan (March 2) joining Mulatero (twice) and Stratton.
Know the Foe
- Evansville (0-6-1, 0-4-1 MVC) dropped a 2-1 result to Drake on Friday, March 26 as its late-game rally, which featured Pablo Guillen drawing the Purple Aces to within one in the 82nd minute, fell short. UE's only points in the league standings came on a 1-1 tie with Bradley on March 22.
- Guillen has three of Evansville's four goals on the season, tying with MSU's Jesus Barea for second most in the conference behind Mulatero's four. The freshman midfielder had the equalizing goal in the March 14 match between the two teams before Mulatero's PK winner. Matt Bryant and Jacob Madden have split goalkeeping duties for the Purple Aces this season with Bryant tallying 14 saves and Madden adding 10 of his own.
- Marshall Ray is 30-58-14 in his sixth season as head coach for Evansville. He is 1-7-2 against Missouri State in his coaching career with one of his two draws against the Bears occurring on a 1-1 match at Arad McCutchan Stadium on Sept. 29, 2018.
Series History
- Missouri State leads the all-time series 22-10-5 against Evansville which includes a seven-game unbeaten streak for the Bears. MSU took a 2-1 result earlier this season at Allison South on March 14 with Nicolo Mulatero's late-game PK sealing the Bears victory.
- The Bears are 10-3-2 on the road versus the Purple Aces with the last home win for UE in the series coming back on Oct. 11, 2006.
- Head coach Jon Leamy has been at the helm for all 37 matches in the series, posting a 9-1-2 record in the past 12 contests between the two teams.
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