SPRINGFIELD - The No. 15-ranked Missouri State Bears ended the regular season on a high note with a pair of goals to bookend Senior Day against the Drake Bulldogs 2-0 on Wednesday night. 

"It's great to get three points at home to finish the regular season," Missouri State head coach Michael Seabolt said. "I'm unbelievably proud of our seniors. To see what these guys have done for the program and will continue to do throughout the rest of this season, I know they're hungry for more."

The win was the Bears' tenth of the season, matching their win total at the end of last year's regular season. Missouri State has won double-digit games for five seasons in a row going back to 2019.

Just as the Bears have done of late, Missouri State got on the board early thanks to junior defender Pedro Arcoverde tapping in his second goal of the season in the sixth minute. Arcoverde rebounded a shot off the crossbar from senior midfielder Jack Denton, who received a set pass from fellow senior midfielder Kian Yari. 

Arcoverde continued Missouri State's trend of scoring early in games. The Bears have now scored in the opening six minutes in three of the last four games going back to October 18 against Evansville.

"I think they are excited to score whenever they can score," Seabolt said. "It has been going in early. What we need to do is keep pushing and get more goals to make the game a little easier on ourselves. That's something we keep working on."

Missouri State continued to keep the pressure up with possession of the ball even with the lead in the first half. The Bears outshot the Bulldogs 8-2 in the first half.

The Bears had an opportunity to extend the lead right before the half when senior forward Jesus Barea sent a ball into the box for Denton, who received the pass on a bounce but was disrupted just enough by Drake redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Quinn Williams to send the shot just wide.

The second half provided much of the same with Missouri State cutting off any Drake chances and once again limiting the Bulldogs to two shots in the last 45 minutes. The Bears outshot the Bulldogs 12-4, continuing the season-long streak of games where Missouri State has yet to be outshot. Missouri State is now outshooting opponents 196-72.

A yellow card on Drake in the 65th minute set the tone for Missouri State to yet again go on the offensive. Barea fired back-to-back shots in the 74th minute that were stopped, nearly putting the game away.

Barea, the reigning MVC Offensive Player of the Week, showed why he bears that title in the 82nd minute. Junior forward James Jennings sent a magnificent ball from near the corner of the pitch to Barea, who launched a rocket into the top-left corner for his fifth goal of the season.

Barea has scored in two consecutive games and has matched sophomore forward Gijs Hovius as the team's leading scorer.

The shutout was Missouri State's eighth of the season and first since its scoreless draw against No. 25 UIC on October 8. Senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend has been at net for each one and is now in sole possession of fifth all-time in the Missouri State career shutout list with 22.

"It gives us a lot of confidence in our defense, our ball possession and our pressing," Seabolt said. "We'll carry that forward. It's good to get back to it and show that we have that consistency." 

Missouri State ends the regular season 10-2-3 with a conference record of 6-1-1. The Bears will be the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament hosted by regular season champion No. 18-ranked Western Michigan, who secured sole possession of the title with a 2-0 win against Bradley Wednesday night. 

"It's an unbelievable testament to the coaches, the student-athletes, the university, the support from the administration, the student body, everything," Seabolt said. "We're excited to represent Missouri State University at the highest level."

The Bears earned a bye straight into the conference semifinal where they will await the highest-seeded team to advance out of the quarterfinal round with Missouri State playing in the first semifinal game on Wednesday, November 8 at 10:00 a.m. CT. More information on the MVC Tournament can be found here.