Wednesday, September 27
St. Louis, Mo. / Robert R. Hermann Stadium
7:00 p.m.
Missouri State University
at
Saint Louis
No. 9 Men’s Soccer Plays Saint Louis for First Time Since 2011
September 26, 2023 | Men's Soccer
| No. 9 Missouri State (5-0-1, 2-0-0 MVC) vs. Saint Louis (3-3-1, 1-0-1 Atlantic 10) | |
| Date | Wednesday, Sept. 27 | 7:00 p.m. CT |
| Location | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Site | Robert R. Hermann Stadium |
| Tickets | slubillikens.com |
| Follow Along | ESPN+ | Live Stats |
| Missouri State | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |
SPRINGFIELD - The No. 9-ranked Missouri State men's soccer team hits the road once again after a successful pair of conference games against Northern Illinois and Belmont. The Bears will take a short hiatus from MVC play to take on the in-state foe Saint Louis Billikens (3-3-1, 1-0-1 Atlantic 10) in what will be the first meeting between the two in over a decade on Wednesday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.
Notes
- Missouri State men's soccer holds the best DI overall record of 64-7-6 (.870), best home record of 37-3-3 (.895) and best conference record of 35-1-2 (.947) since the beginning of the 2019 season. The Bears have the third-best win percentage in 2023 (.917), only behind No. 21 San Diego State (6-0-1, .929) and No. 1 Marshall (8-0-0, 1.000).
- Missouri State is ranked No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches Week 4 Poll, its highest ranking this season. This marks the sixth time in program history that the Bears have been in the top 10. Their highest ranking was No. 3 in 2000.
- College Soccer News put Missouri State at No. 8 in its Men's Soccer Top 30 Poll for the week ending on September 23. They are joined by fellow MVC teams UIC at No. 27 and Western Michigan which received votes.
- The Bears continued their perfect season with a 1-0 victory over Belmont last Friday night. Junior forward James Jennings scored his first goal of the season to celebrate his 22nd birthday during the game.
- The Bears' precision offense is tied for 19th in the nation in shot accuracy with 33 of 66 shots being on goal (.500). Missouri State has outshot opponents 66-19 in its first six games and is tied for 33rd in the nation in goal differential (+7).
- Senior midfielder Jack Denton and senior forward Jesus Barea are both tied for 19th in the nation in game-winning goals (2). Each has scored in consecutive games throughout the year. Denton scored in the first two games against then-No. 14 Maryland and Kansas City. Barea has scored in back-to-back games against VCU and Northern Illinois.
- Jesus Barea is second in the nation in shot accuracy with 10 of his 13 shots being on goal (.769). He is also tied for 23rd in shots on goal per game (1.67). Barea is fourth in the MVC in shots per game (2.17) and fifth in shots on goal per game (1.67).
- Senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend continues his strong start to the season having allowed just one penalty kick goal in 540 minutes of play. Townsend is third in the nation in goalkeeper goals against average (0.167), fourth in save percentage (.889), tied for fourth in total shutouts (5) and was the MVC Defensive Player of the Week for August 29.
- Missouri State's defense has also been strong, only allowing one goal in its first six games on a penalty kick against Tulsa. The Bears are tied for second in the nation in fewest goals allowed, as San Diego St. is the only team not to allow a score. Missouri State is third in the nation in shutout percentage (0.833) and team goals against average (0.167).
- Since 2019, Missouri State is 46-0-0 when scoring two or more goals. The last time the Bears scored two goals and lost was on Nov. 9, 2018, in the MVC Semifinals vs. No. 1 seed Central Arkansas when Missouri State lost in penalty kicks.
- Missouri State has played a clean brand of soccer and is second in the nation in fewest fouls per game (7.17), only behind American University (6.71).
Missouri State and Saint Louis meet for the 15th all-time meeting between the two going back to 1988. The Billikens are 9-0-5 against the Bears, having never lost against them. Saint Louis won the first-ever matchup 4-0 in St. Louis. Missouri State is 0-5-2 against St. Louis when the Billikens are ranked, including a 1-1 draw when Saint Louis was No. 2 in the country on September 9, 1999. From 2001-2009, Saint Louis went 6-0-0 against Missouri State, including a 2-0 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on November 19. 2009. The winning streak was snapped in 2010 after a 0-0 tie. That same result was matched in their most recent meeting back in 2011 with a 1-1 score. The 12 years since they last played is the largest gap between meetings in this series. All matchups between each team have been in St. Louis.
Scouting the Billikens
- The back-to-back A-10 champion Saint Louis Billikens enter Wednesday night's game 3-3-1 on the season, including a perfect 3-0 at home. Saint Louis is riding consecutive wins against Oral Roberts and Fordham. Since 2019, Saint Louis has had the sixth-best home winning percentage (25-5-2, .813).
- The Billikens have been outscored by opponents 7-6 and have been outshot 86-70 in their seven games. Sophomore forward CJ Coppola has accounted for four of their six goals, tying him for 59th in the nation in goals and tied for fifth in the nation in game-winning goals (3). Coppola has scored in all three of Saint Louis' wins, scoring twice in the season opener against Butler on two shots, and scoring in consecutive games against Oral Roberts and Fordham.
- Saint Louis has had two goalkeepers split time at the net. Junior Jeremi Abonnel has played four games while earning 14 saves on four goals allowed with a shutout against VCU. Redshirt freshman Mason Hart has played three games. He also has 14 saves on three goals allowed and a shutout against Oral Roberts.
- The Billikens, like the Bears, have built a defensive foundation around the net as they are 28th in the nation in save percentage (.806) and 43rd in saves per game (4.14).
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