SPRINGFIELD - Missouri State men's soccer's sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament ended in the second round on Sunday against the Kansas City Roos, 2-1. The Bears see their campaign end in the second round in consecutive years.

"The guys played hard," head coach Michael Seabolt said. "They worked for each other, supported each other. I'm just proud of their season. We won a Valley championship, let's not forget that. We were seeded in the NCAA Tournament. All the tournament teams are good. Full credit to Kansas City for playing a tough match."

The Bears (12-4-3) got to work early, putting up two shots in the opening 90 seconds. Midfielder Daniel Normann, who made his first start since Oct. 12 at Belmont, made an attempt at the net in the first minute. Forward Ollie Bate quickly tried at the net again, but Kansas City goalkeeper Brandon McGaugh made the first of his six saves.

The first four Missouri State shots were taken within the first 13 minutes. Kansas City (14-4-3) registered its first shot in the 17th minute, which was snuffed by goalkeeper Will Lowry.

Missouri State outshot Kansas City 18-11, including 8-4 in the first half. Across the season, the Bears outshot opponents by a total of 239-109. The season shot total for the Bears ended up being just one shy of matching last year's ledger. The Bears ended 2024 with a +22 goal differential, scoring 37 times to their opponents' 15.

The Bears cracked the net in the 32nd minute on a free kick sent into the box to take the lead. The initial kick from midfielder Tyler Caton was sent toward the edge of the box where forward Jesus Barea obtained possession and passed the ball back into traffic to defender Victor Wachowicz. Defender Harry Jolley received the touch pass and pushed the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season to take the lead.

Missouri State ends the season 7-1 when leading at the half.

Kansas City found the equalizer just over five minutes into the second half on a cross from defender Brevyn Cole to forward Elie Kisoka, who tapped it to forward Sora Shibata for the score on his lone shot attempt.

The teams continued their back-and-forth soon after. Kansas City put up another shot just minutes later, but the score remained tied for over 20 minutes. MoState took 10 shots in the second half, but each team had seven shots on goal over the 90 minutes.

The Roos scored the game-winner courtesy of Ales Kohoutek, who scored his first goal of the season after having just checked into the match three minutes prior. Kansas City forced its third of five corner kicks of the match. Midfielder Julien Le Bordoulous, who had two assists against Missouri State in the regular season, set up a cross in the middle of the box to an open Kohoutek for the dagger. The five corner kicks were the most the Bears have allowed since Oct. 1 against Creighton. 

"They scored on two crosses," Seabolt said. "That's disappointing and we knew that would be something to take care of. Ultimately, we didn't get that done. It's something we're going to work on in the offseason, but we've done really well on set pieces since they were here last."

The Bears upped the pressure with their backs against the wall, taking seven shots in the final 13 minutes after trailing. Forward Pablo Guillen, who also made his first start of the season, took three of his match-leading four shots in that timeframe. 

"Those guys have been training hard and training well," Seabolt said. "They earned those opportunities and they did very well." 

Barea took one last shot with 15 seconds left that was deflected in the air and snagged by McGough, ending one of the most prolific individual seasons and careers in program history. Barea finishes his time as a Bear as the program leader in shots taken (261), second in career starts (85), tied for second in career goals (34), third in career points (87) and tied for sixth in career assists (19). His 15 goals this year end up tied for the second most in program history and his 81 shots in 2024 sit third all-time.

"For some of these guys, it'll be the last time they represent the Bears on the field, but they'll represent Missouri State and Springfield for the rest of their lives," Seabolt said.

Following Missouri State's Missouri Valley Conference semifinal loss to Evansville, the result on Sunday marked the first time the Bears have lost back-to-back home matches since 2017.

Missouri State ends its 2024 season 12-4-2, marking three straight 12-win seasons under Seabolt. Kansas City advances to the Sweet 16 to face No. 2 seed Pittsburgh on the road. The Bears conclude their 34-year history in The Valley with a league-tying 12 regular season championships as well as four conference tournament titles. The Bears will join the American Athletic Conference starting in 2025.