ST. LOUIS - Missouri State junior defender Pedro Arcoverde won the final Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week Award, the league announced Thursday afternoon.

He rounds out the six weekly awards Missouri State men's soccer has secured throughout the regular season. Five of the six awards have been on the defensive side of the ball.

Arcoverde was a pillar of Missouri State's strong defense that earned its eighth shutout of the season in a 2-0 victory over Drake last night. He started the game by carrying out the trend of early goals the Bears have been living by. 

He scored in the sixth minute off of a rebound from a shot that went off the crossbar. The goal was Arcoverde's second of the season and he has now scored in half of his shots this season. His defense has helped Missouri State to be tied for eighth in the nation in shutout percentage (.533).

A transfer from Cowley College during the offseason, Arcoverde wins his first career MVC Player of the Week Award and joins senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend, senior defender Javier Martin Gil, junior defender Michael Peck and senior forward Jesus Barea as Bears who have been recognized as conference players of the week.

Missouri State (10-2-3, 6-1-1 MVC) will be the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament starting Sunday, November 5. The Bears have a first-round bye straight to the semifinal and will await the highest remaining seed to advance out of the quarterfinal. Missouri State's semifinal game will be on Wednesday, November 8 at 10:00 a.m. CT. 

More information on the 2023 MVC Tournament can be found here.