EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The No. 10-ranked Missouri State men's soccer team escaped a late rally from the Evansville Purple Aces here Wednesday, but emerged with a 2-1 win on the road. 

The Bears (8-1-3, 4-0-1 MVC) used early scoring from two of their most prolific shooters, sophomore forward Gijs Hovius and senior forward Jon Koka to control the match, and used clutch defense down the stretch to hold off Evansville's late threat.

"Congrats to the team for three points on the road," head coach Michael Seabolt said. "We've been road warriors all season and have handled it extremely well."

The Bears made their mark early on as senior forward Pablo Guillen, who transferred from Evansville, beat the Purple Aces' senior goalkeeper Aidan Montoure on a run that left the net wide open for Hovius to score in just the third minute of play. 

Hovius now leads the Bears with four goals this season, breaking his tie with Guillen and senior forward Jesus Barea.

"We've worked hard on taking our chances and being aggressive," Seabolt said. "The guys have taken that on board. Gijs finished it off but it was a tremendous team goal, a great assist from Pablo and a good pass before that from Kian [Yari]. It was a great team goal."

It wasn't long until Missouri State extended its lead in the 20th minute when Barea aided Koka to reach three goals on the season himself. Koka from the corner of the goal box sent a shot flying into the top-right corner of the net and past the diving Montoure to give the Bears a brisk 2-0 lead.

Koka's three goals have all come in the last five games, including scores in back-to-back games as he scored the opening goal against the Omaha Mavericks last week.

"He's been playing really hard and pressing well," Seabolt said. "He's been really good in possession. He was really good in possession tonight. He's always been a guy with an eye toward the goal and his chances are going in. It's a great credit to his work."

The Bears entered the locker room at halftime outshooting the Purple Aces 4-1 with Evansville's only shot in the half being saved by senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend. 

The vast majority of the second half played very similarly to the first with Missouri State holding on to possession and limiting Evansville's chances to draw closer. The Bears presented themselves with several chances by firing off three shots in four minutes from three different players, but they were all stopped. 

The Purple Aces, who entered the game tied for 11th in the nation with 36 yellow cards, drew five bookings in the second half alone within 20 minutes. It marked the second time Evansville has been assessed five yellow cards in a game this season.

Evansville had a few last gasps in the final seconds to pull off an incredible comeback. Senior forward Kai Phillip, who scored a brace against the Bears last regular season on September 24, 2022, scored with 49 seconds left on a runner that he poked into the air and dropped right into the net for his eighth goal of the season.

The Purple Aces stole the ball back seconds later and earned a throw-in as the clock winded down. Evansville sophomore midfielder Ola Arntsen received the throw and sent a pass to junior forward Edward Mendy who had his shot saved by Townsend as the buzzer sounded to preserve the win for the Bears.

"We just have to manage the game at the end," Seabolt said. "We will do that. We played great for 89 minutes and earned a two-goal lead and won the game."

Missouri State moves to 8-1-3 and 4-0-1 in conference play as the Bears begin a new winning streak after another 2-1 win in their previous game against Omaha. The Bears also extended their winning streak against Evansville to 11 games.

With the win, the Bears keep pace with fellow MVC frontrunner Western Michigan (10-1-3, 4-0-1 MVC), which visits Springfield on Sunday in a key homecoming showdown. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. at Betty and Bobby Allison Stadium. Admission is free and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.