SPRINGFIELD – After defeating No. 6-seeded UNI in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals, No. 2-seeded Missouri State women's soccer battles No. 8-seeded Murray State Sunday at 1 p.m. for the conference tournament championship in Valparaiso, Ind. The championship match can be viewed on ESPN+.
 

MVC Tournament Finals: No. 2 Missouri State (11-6-2, 7-2-1 MVC) vs. No. 8 Murray State (7-11-3, 3-5-2 MVC)
Date	Sunday, Nov. 6, 1 p.m.
Location	Valparaiso, Ind.
Site	Brown Field
Tickets	Brown Field ticket windows or online here
Follow Along	Live Stats, Watch
Missouri State	Women's Soccer Home Page | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok

 
Match Details
The No. 2-seeded Missouri State women's soccer team (11-6-2, 7-2-1 MVC) squares off against No. 8-seeded Murray State (7-11-3, 3-5-2 MVC) Sunday at 1 p.m. at Brown Field in Valparaiso, Ind. in the MVC Tournament championship match. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+, and the winner will earn an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Quick Kicks
• Missouri State has won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament twice before, landing auto-bids to the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and 2017 (its only two NCAA appearances).
•  In 2017, MoState defeated UNI, 1-0, in the MVC finals to capture its second conference tournament title at Allison South Stadium in Springfield. This was also the last time MSU was in the conference tournament championship match.
•  The Bears are 17-17-6 in 23 appearances in the MVC tournament. In the finals, they are 2-4 all-time.
•  This is the first time the Bears have reached the conference tournament since 2019 when they were eliminated in the semifinals by Illinois State, 4-3. Only three Bears players on the current roster have played minutes the MVC Tournament (Kyli Jackson, Jade Loftness and Maddie Augustine).
•  MSU has not been this high of a seed (No. 2) in the tournament since 2017.
• Hailey Chambliss (Fr., F/M, Eureka, Mo.) leads the Bears in goals (7) and points (16). She also has four game-winning goals (ranked 25th nationally). After Chambliss' most recent goal versus UNI in Thursday's MVC Semifinal, she became the first MSU player to score goals in four consecutive matches since Bethany Smith in 2011.
• Grace O'Keefe (So., F, Overland Park, Kan.) has the second most points (12) and goals (4, tied with Kaeli Benedict) on MSU, and she leads the Bears in shots (39).
•  Kaeli Benedict (So., M, Bridgton, Mo.) has four goals and two assists on the season, totaling 10 points. She was responsible for the Bears' game-winning score in the semifinals against UNI in the 36th minute (assisted by O'Keefe and Joey Fosnow).
• Through 19 games, Kyli Jackson (Sr., D, Overland Park, Kan.) has logged the most minutes
of any Bear at 1631. Jenna Anderson (So., D/M, Overland Park, Kan.) is the only other Bear
with over 1600 minutes, with 1621 respectively. Jackson has played the full 90 minutes in 12 contests this year.
• Since the beginning of the 2021 season, Abby Couch (Jr., M, Kearney, Mo.) and Carly Raunig
(Jr., D, Olathe, Kan.) have started every match (36 total).
• Camielle Day (Jr., GK, Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) has posted eight shutouts on the season, the 31st most nationally. Day is one away from tying the MSU record for shutouts in a season, nine set by Jennifer Grocki in 2000.
• MoState has a shutout percentage of .526, good for 39th in the nation. MSU's 10 total shutouts is only one away (11) from the program's all-time record, set in 2000.
• Missouri State ranks 42nd in shot accuracy nationally (.506).
• The Bears have seven conference shutouts in ten regular season MVC matches.

Scoring Summary
•   Eight Bears have found the back of the net this season.
•   Hailey Chambliss (Fr., M, Eureka, Mo.) has seven goals. Chambliss scored twice in one match, netting goals in the 71st and 84th minutes at Southern Illinois (9/29/22). Next, she scored the following game, netting a game-winning, 52nd minute goal for the Bears at home against Valparaiso. She then scored at home versus Indiana State (10/13/22), scoring a game-winning goal in the 12th minute. Next, she netted a goal at home against UIC (10/16/22) in the 84th minute, registering a game-winning score on Senior Day. She also found the back of the net at Illinois State (10/23/22) in the 59th minute. Her most recent goal came in the MVC semifinals against UNI in the seventh minute (11/3/22).
•   Grace O'Keefe (So., F, Overland Park, Kan.) has four goals. O'Keefe scored on a penalty kick in the 29th minute against Tulsa (8/28/22), netted the game-winning goal in the 78th minute of the conference opener vs. Evansville (9/18/22), put the Bears on the board with a goal in the 83rd minute off a free kick versus Murray State (10/06/22) and scored the game-winning goal for MSU in the 57th minute at Belmont (10/09/22).
•   Kaeli Benedict (So., M, Bridgton, Mo.) has four goals, scoring against SEMO (8/25/22) in the 67th minute, netting a game-winning penalty kick goal in the 16th minute against Kansas City (9/11/22), scoring in the 77th minute at Illinois State (10/23/22) and recording the game-winning goal in the MVC semifinals versus UNI (11/3/22).
•   Joey Fosnow (Fr., F, Lee's Summit, Mo.) has three goals. Fosnow scored the first goal of the year for MoState in the 54th minute vs. SEMO (8/25/22), netted her second in 24th minute at Drake (9/22/22) and scored in the fourth minute at Northern Iowa (9/25/22).
•   Gracie English (Jr., F/M, Belleville, Ill, Saint Louis) has two goals, with both of her scores coming in the first half on Sept. 4 at Oral Roberts.
•   Riley Smith (Fr., F, Platte City, Mo.) has one goal, finding the back of the net in the 85th minute vs. Tulsa (8/28/22).
•   Iraia Arrue (So., F, Caracas, Venezuela) has one goal, scoring in the 34th minute at Northern Iowa (9/25/22).
•   Riley Sherron (Jr., D/M, Leawood, Kan.) has one goal, scoring in the 83rd minute at Belmont (10/09/22).
 
Head Coach Kirk Nelson
•   Head coach Kirk Nelson took the reins of the Bears on Jan. 1, 2022, after eight seasons as associate head coach. Nelson replaced former Bears' head coach and founder of the MSU women's program Rob Brewer, who retired last season after 26 years. Prior to joining the Missouri State staff, Nelson spent four seasons at the University of Nevada, including one as associate head coach. During his last two seasons in Nevada, Nelson led the Wolfpack to back-to-back Mountain West Conference Tournaments. Nelson also had success as a high school head coach near Phoenix, AZ, spending time at both Mountain Pointe High School and Chandler High School. Nelson racked up 175 wins and competed for a pair of 5A state championships during this time. Nelson is certified as a USSF National "A" License coach, one of the highest coaching certifications given out by the federation and holds both an NSCAA Premier Diploma and a Goalkeeping Diploma.
 
Series History
•   The Missouri State - Murray State series is tied all-time, 3-3-0. The two teams last met earlier this season on Oct. 6 in Springfield. The Racers defeated the Bears, 2-1.
 
Looking Ahead
•   The winner of this match will clinch an auto bid to the NCAA Tournament.