PEORIA, Ill. - The No. 9-ranked Missouri State men's soccer team was on the gas pedal all 90 minutes against the Bradley Braves on Saturday night, scoring six goals in its sixth shutout this season. 

The six goals are the most the Bears have scored in a game since they defeated Cal State Northridge 7-0 at home on Sept. 16 of last season, and their most in a road game since defeating Friends University 8-0 on October 11, 1985.

"I'm just excited for the guys to score goals and get a clean sheet," head coach Michael Seabolt said.

Each team used the first few minutes jostling for possession as the first shot came eight minutes in from senior midfielder Jack Denton. Bradley had its best chance to score soon after as the Braves got three corner kick attempts and two shots off within just over two minutes.

Senior forward Pablo Guillen scored the first two goals, single-handedly providing all the scoring in the first half. Guillen's first goal came in the 15th minute off an assist from junior defender Michael Peck. Guillen nailed a left-footer from just outside the goal box and painted the ball in the lower-right corner. 

Guillen followed up with a perfectly placed free kick in the net in the 43rd minute also to the right corner.

"It's a very good feeling," Guillen said. "We were looking to score goals tonight. I'm very happy with the team, very happy with the performance tonight."

The time between Guillen's goals was the largest gap between scores for the Bears all game.

Missouri State kept pushing the pace in the second half by once again getting on the board just eight minutes after leaving the locker room. Junior defender Pedro Arcoverde scored his first career goal as a Bear in traffic to extend the lead to three.

Just over three minutes later, the Bears took a 4-0 lead as sophomore forward Gijs Hovius got into open space and juked around Bradley junior goalkeeper Alex Grow to score on the open net. Senior forward Jon Koka provided a nice pass off his head to find Hovius in stride.

Speaking of Koka, he scored his first goal of the season in the 70th minute on a no-look backward shot after the Bears had a corner kick knocked away. The goal was Koka's 13th of his career, and he has now scored in four consecutive seasons.

Two minutes later, Hovius joined Guillen as not only the Bears' leading scorer with three on the year each, but also by getting a brace himself that started thanks to a strong throw-in from junior defender Daniel Shabani.

"Gijs is really starting to adjust and adapt to our style of play," Seabolt said. "I am really happy with his goals. They were both great finishes. The other part with Gijs is I'm really happy with his work rate. His intensity, his transitions, his pressing, was big time tonight."

The Bears got all they could in 90 minutes following a hard-fought 1-1 draw with the Saint Louis Billikens on Wednesday. Seabolt said his players took it upon themselves to come out the gate strong this time around.

"I didn't think I had to do very much at all," Seabolt said. "The guys felt like they deserved more at Saint Louis and win that game. I didn't have to do much to motivate the guys at all. They were ready to go."

Missouri State outshot Bradley 17-5 and extended its winning streak over the Braves to 14 games going back to 2016. The six goals scored are the most by either team in any matchup between the two and the Bears have shut out the Braves for six consecutive games. 

Missouri State (6-0-2, 3-0-0 MVC) comes back from a two-game road trip for its first homestand of the season. The Bears will start a three-game stretch in Springfield starting on Wednesday, October 4 at 6:00 p.m. CT against the Memphis Tigers (4-3-2, 0-3-0 AAC).

#BearsUnite