SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State men's soccer turned an early mistake into a forgotten footnote in a 6-1 rout of visiting Evansville here Friday. The win secured No. 17 Missouri State (11-2-2, 6-0-1 MVC) a first-round bye in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and sets up a chance to earn the No. 1 seed and outright conference title in next week's finale.

Missouri State's goals were scored by six different players, including three in the final nine minutes of play. 

Evansville (8-6-2, 4-3-0 MVC) got the drop on the Bears in the seventh minute as the Purple Aces pressured the Bears down a man for a moment due to a stoppage. Freshman midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi attacked MSU goalkeeper Will Lowry after the ball was passed back to him. Fedrizzi jostled his way into Lowry's space and poked the goal in to give the Aces an early lead. 

"They pressed us well and we made a mistake," Seabolt said. "Full credit to Evansville for coming out really hard. They're a very good team and they represent The Valley very, very well."

Missouri State went on an absolute tear from there, putting up 12 unanswered shots in the first half and outshooting Evansville, 24-5, overall for a new season-high.

"I think we just went forward better," Seabolt said. "We were looking to keep possession early but they were pressing really hard. The best way to beat pressure is good possession while going forward, and we started going forward very well and that led to the goals."

Senior forward James Jennings found the equalizer in the 34th minute after multiple Missouri State shots were deflected. Jennings was there to clean up the mess and earn his seventh goal of the season and 11th of his career. 

The teams went into the locker room at halftime tied at one. The Bears turned on the jets as soon as the second-half whistle was blown. Freshman midfielder Daniel Souza scored his first career goal less than two minutes into the half. Senior forward Pablo Guillen scored two minutes later on a nicely set cross from fellow senior forward Jesus Barea. 

Barea made sure to get in on the scoring festivities, opening the floodgates in the 82nd minute off assists from junior forward Ollie Bate and freshman midfielder Jared Harlock. The goal was Barea's 14th of the season, which is the tied for second-most in the nation and sixth-most in a single season by a Bear. His 33 career goals put him one shy of Brad Jordan (1994-97) for second-most in program history.

"I'm so happy for the seniors," Seabolt said. "We just play what we feel like we need to do to win the game, and if the chips fall and they happen to score a goal or make a big play, then that's awesome. I am super proud of those guys."

Forward Daniele Verdirosi, another Bear honored on Missouri State's Senior Night before the game, scored his first goal as a Bear and first at the Division I level in the 85th minute. To cap off the high-scoring affair, Bate scored his first goal of the season in the 87th minute. Sophomore Joseph Ling, who made his fifth appearance of the season, earned an assist on each of the last two goals.

Missouri State is now set up for a winner-take-all match for the MVC regular season title in Des Moines against Drake (9-3-3, 5-0-2 MVC) on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+. A Bears win or draw will clinch them the title. The Bulldogs inched by Northern Illinois, 3-2, on Friday to stay in championship contention. The regular season champion will have hosting rights to the MVC Tournament semifinal and championship matches on Nov. 13 and 16.