SPRINGFIELD - The No. 10-ranked Missouri State men's soccer team (8-2-3, 4-1-1) suffered a heartbreaking defeat against new conference foe Western Michigan (11-2-3, 5-0-1) Sunday afternoon. The Broncos erased a 1-0 halftime deficit by scoring two goals within a minute to win 2-1.

"They're physical and they play strong," head coach Michael Seabolt said. "We've got to be physical and play strong too. I'm proud of our guys and they put themselves in a position to win the game. We let it get away from us. We just have to make sure we defend really strong late in the match and match the intensity."

The Bears opened the game aggressively by taking three shots in the first 11 minutes before the Broncos made an attempt on goal. Missouri State outshot Western Michigan in both halves and 16-10 in total. The Bears now have a +103 shot differential on the season (164-61).

Western Michigan regained control late in the first half by forcing three corner kicks toward the Bears' goal in just over one minute. Each attempt was thwarted by either a Bear deflecting a shot or senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend making the save. 

Townsend and Western Michigan goalkeeper Ethan Brandt lived up to being two of the best goalkeepers in the nation. Townsend made a season-high six saves against a strong Broncos offense that put up 10 shots, tied for the most Missouri State has had to face in a game this season.

The Bears struck first with just two seconds left in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Daniel Normann scored his first goal of the season on a buzzer-beating shot from outside the box that passed the diving Brandt and hit the left post. The ball ricocheted straight back and hit Brandt as he lay on the ground, sending the ball through the net.

"It was a great goal," Seabolt said. "Daniel took the shot as he should and it went in. We had the follow too. I think Jesus [Barea] was there to follow up so I think either way it was going to go in." 

Western Michigan responded to the last-minute goal by owning possession for the early parts of the second half. The Broncos finally got on the board as one of their best scorers, forward Tom Cooklin, found the back of the net from the edge of the box in the 75th minute to score a goal in his third consecutive appearance. 

The Broncos scored again in less than a minute of in-game time when senior forward Charlie Sharp received a good cross near the right corner of the pitch. Sharp took a shot from a hard angle that Townsend initially stopped, but Sharp secured the rebound and took the same shot again to score his 10th goal of the season.

Sharp becomes the second Bronco to reach double-digit goals this season, behind forward Dylan Sing's 12. The Bears did limit Sing to just two shots and one shot on goal to prevent him from scoring for just the second time in his last 11 games. 

Missouri State fought back until the very end by taking six shots in the last five minutes, including a trio of shots off rebounds that ended with the final shot going over the net with just over two minutes remaining.

Western Michigan broke the tie with Missouri State at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference standings and now leads by three points with two games remaining for each team in the regular season.

The Bears have two games remaining in the regular season before the MVC Tournament begins in November. Missouri State will play its final regular season road game on Friday, October 27 against another newly-added MVC team in Bowling Green at 6:00 p.m. CT. Bowling Green (7-5-3, 4-2-0) is fresh off a 3-1 win over Drake on Sunday and sits one point behind Missouri State for the second spot in the MVC standings. 

"We are here to win games," Seabolt said. "The guys were ready to play and they did a lot of good things today. We just didn't get the result, so we got to get back to work and get ready for the next game."

The top two teams at the end of the regular season will earn a first-round bye that takes them straight to the conference semifinals.