SPRINGFIELD - The No. 9-ranked Missouri State men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season against the Memphis Tigers in a 1-0 defeat Wednesday night, ending an undefeated season that lasted eight games.

"Congrats to Memphis," Missouri State head coach Michael Seabolt said. "They traveled here, played hard and came away with three points. Congrats to them and good luck to them the rest of the season."

Memphis freshman midfielder Giorgos Kondylis scored in the 65th minute as the Bears attempted to clear a throw-in. Missouri State kicked the initial throw away from the net, but Kondylis was there to intercept the ball and nail a shot into the top-left corner.

The goal was Kondylis' first for his collegiate career in just his fifth game and third career start.

"In that moment, we lost him and he scored," Seabolt said. "It was a good finish by the young man. After that, we had to push hard to get a goal. We created a few chances but obviously we didn't create enough."

The Bears started the game strong on the attack, maintaining possession of the ball and utilizing the full length of the field to build up an attack. However, anytime Missouri State passed the ball back to its defenders and to senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend, the Tigers made sure to close in quickly to force a fast pass and leave little time for the Bears to set up a play.

Missouri State had a few strong chances in the first half and outshot Memphis 9-1 in the first 45 minutes, but Memphis graduate goalkeeper JD Gunn utilized his length to stop the Bears' attack to send both teams to the locker room scoreless. 

Overall, the Bears outshot the Tigers 12-3 and are now outshooting all opponents 109-31 on the season.

Gunn's 6-foot-5-inch stature was the key to stopping all Missouri State corner kicks. The Bears earned eight corners split evenly in each half, but most of them were snuffed out by Gunn on the first touch.

After Kondylis' goal, Memphis' defense did not break. The Tigers only allowed one more shot in the 73rd minute by senior midfielder Jack Denton whose shot went through Gunn's hands due to misty conditions. The ball bounced off the left post and after a battle for possession, Memphis was awarded a goal kick. 

The Tigers held on to snap a three-game losing streak that consisted of three conference opponents. Memphis also snapped Missouri State's eight-game home undefeated streak going back to its last home loss on September 20 of last year against Tulsa.

Missouri State (6-1-2, 3-0-0 MVC) will have a chance to redeem itself as it welcomes a fellow ranked opponent from the conference, No. 25 UIC (7-3-1, 2-1-0 MVC), on Sunday, October 8 at 1 p.m. for its second of three games at home. The UIC Flames lost to DePaul 3-1 Wednesday night.