SPRINGFIELD - The No. 9-ranked Missouri State men's soccer team took the fight to the No. 25-ranked UIC Flames in a highly contested Missouri Valley Conference battle, but the nationally ranked programs never gave an inch after a 90-minute 0-0 draw.

"UIC is a really good team," head coach Michael Seabolt said. "It is great to have good teams like them in our league. They are going to be great to compete against this year and in the future."

Contrary to Missouri State's 1-0 loss against Memphis earlier in the week, the Bears made their best advances on the Flames' defense in the second half, launching 14 of their season-high 19 shots after returning from the locker room.

Missouri State has outshot its opponent in every game this season and has amassed at least 11 shots in the last six games.

Many early Missouri State chances were cut just short of taking a chance at the net, but extra passes and strong play from UIC redshirt senior goalkeeper Andres Vasquez kept it scoreless. Vasquez earned his first shutout of the season in just two starts.

"We had some good shots," Seabolt said. We hit the target a number of times, had a number of rebounds. Their keeper made a couple of good saves on the line. They had some blocks on the line."

The defense for Missouri State did much of the same, limiting the Flames to just four shots. One of the nation's top offenses, UIC has only taken fewer shots once this season when it only took three against Northwestern in September. 

MSU senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend earned his seventh shutout of the season in just 10 games. Townsend has 21 shutouts in his career, tied for fifth-most in Missouri State history with Brad Barnes (1993-1996).

The Bears came out flying to start the second half. Junior forward James Jennings had a pair of strong looks at the net in both the 52nd and 58th minute, but Vasquez saved both shots. Jennings and senior midfielder Jack Denton led all players with three shots apiece, with both players having two shots on goal. Missouri State had 10 of its 19 shots be on target, furthering the Bears' impressive shot accuracy throughout the season.

"When you have over 50% [shots] on target, that's a good thing," Seabolt said. "We did have a couple of free kicks hit their wall. One went over. Those were probably chances we should have put away."

One of Missouri State's best chances to score was in the 56th minute when UIC junior forward Joshua Torres was assessed with a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. The Bears fired three consecutive shots within one minute, including the free kick for the yellow card. Each one resulted in a deflection, save or Flames' possession.

Missouri State made sure to limit UIC's most prominent attackers, preventing junior forward Bart Muns from taking a shot for only the second time this season. Torres, who scored the lone goal against MSU in last year's matchup and the Flames' only score in their last game against DePaul, was limited following his yellow card and did not take a shot either.

UIC junior midfielder Oskar Greven was the only Flame with more than one shot, while redshirt junior defender Jesus De Vicente, one of the nation's leaders in assists, was also kept off the board.

Missouri State (6-1-3, 3-0-1 MVC) remains undefeated in conference play and holds on to the top spot in the MVC standings. The Bears will conclude their three-game home stand on Wednesday, October 11 when they take on the Omaha Mavericks (4-4-3, 1-1-1 Summit League) at 6:00 p.m. CT at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium.