SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State men's soccer team (3-1-1, 1-0) won its American Conference Opener against Temple (0-4-0, 0-1-0) on Friday night with an incredible 4-0 scoreline. Seniors Daniele Verdirosi and James Jennings scored their first goals of the season, while classmate Fumiya Shiraishi added two more goals to his season tally.
The standout forward has now scored eight goals this season, and leads the NCAA Division I in goals per game (1.50) and points per game (3.25).
The Bears were aggressive from the get go, and Verdirosi found an opportunity in the 22nd minute striking the bottom right of the goal off of his left foot assisted by junior Adrian Esteban. Just three minutes later, Shiraishi stepped up to take a penalty kick after a hard foul. Shiraishi found the bottom right of the net with composure to propel the Bears to a 2-0 lead.
The Bears struck again in the 71st minute, when Jennings utilized a pass from Shiraishi and slammed the ball into the bottom right of the net for a 3-0 lead. In the 75th minute, sophomore Daniel Souza set up an assist for another brilliant goal by Shiraishi. MSU closed out the night with a 4-0 scoreline.
The Bears ended the night with 13 total shots, six of them being on goal. The MSU defense was too strong for the Owls, and the Bears only allowed four totals shots and two shots on goal by the Owls, both saved by senior Will Lowry in the first half.
Coach Michael Seabolt praised his team's efforts in both preparation and execution during their first American Conference victory.
"They played really well and prepared well all week for this encounter. It's a massive night for Missouri State University men's soccer and everything we've been doing. This is our first American Conference game and our first American Conference win so a wonderful debut for our program."
Verdirosi and Jennings were both thrilled to get their first goals of the season.
"It's a very good feeling because I was waiting for it for a long time and I'm very happy for me and of course for the team for this important first conference win," stated Verdirosi after the match.
"It feels good to get the goal, we've put in a lot of work in these past couple of weeks from the previous game against UCA, we knew that we needed to get a good score line tonight, so everyone was more relentless in this game. Hopefully we can carry that over against Saint Louis on Tuesday," Jennings said post-game.
Coach Seabolt looks forward to the next game on the road, against a quality opponent in Saint Louis.
"Last year we had a really hard fought draw here at home we know it's going to be a really good team so we're going to recover a bit and then train really well and get ready for Tuesday night in Saint Louis. Hopefully we'll have a lot of alumni out to support us, and we're excited for that game."
The Missouri State Bears will play next at Saint Louis on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 7:00 p.m.
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