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Missouri State continues to sit atop the league standings with 15 points (5-0 MVC), holding a five point advantage over Loyola (3-1-1 MVC) and Bradley (3-2-1 MVC). Drake (3-3 MVC) has nine points, while Valpo (1-4 MVC) and Evansville (0-5 MVC) round out the league standings.
Just two conference matches will take place this week. Unbeaten Missouri State will look to remain perfect Saturday night at Bradley, while Evansville will strive for its first league win against Drake.
Loyola and Valpo will step outside league play this week as the Ramblers host UIC and the Crusaders travel to Milwaukee.
Last Team Standing
Missouri State extended its winning streak to 11 games with wins over Bradley and Drake last week. The Bears have opened their season with 11 straight wins for the first time in program history. The winning streak ranks first nationally and is one shy of the program’s top streak of 12-straight in 1999.
Missouri State is the first MVC program to start a season 11-0-0 since SMU started the 2001 season 21-0-0 before suffering its only loss in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals to St. John’s.
The Bears are the only team still sitting perfect in all of NCAA Division I.
High Scoring Bears
Missouri State has already scored 27 goals on the season, marking their best season output this decade, surpassing 26 goals in 2018 and 2011. The Bears have only led The Valley in scoring twice in league history, netting 59 goals in 1995 and 49 goals in 1999 (MVC Champs with 17-1-3 record).
Road Winning Streak
Missouri State enters this week with a six-match road winning streak as the Bears head to Bradley Saturday. The streak is tied for the second longest in all of NCAA Division I with Navy. St. Mary’s (CA) has the longest at 7.
Elite on Both Ends
The Bears’ attack ranks seventh in the nation and leads the conference in scoring offense with 78 total points on 27 goals and 24 assists. MSU has allowed the third fewest goals in Division-I with four goals allowed this season for an MVC-best 0.356 goals against average. Missouri State joins #2 SMU as the only two teams to rank Top 10 nationally in both goals per game and goals allowed per game.
League Scoring Leaders
Loyola’s Aidan Megally and Missouri State’s Matthew Bentley each secured their second multi-goal game of the season last week. Megally netted both goals in the Ramblers’ 2-0 win at Northwestern, while Bentley scored two goals in the Bears’ 3-0 win over Bradley. The two players are tied for the league lead with seven goals on the season.
Kings of Chicago
Loyola will look for a sweep of its three local rivals in its non-conference finale against UIC on Tuesday. The Ramblers have already defeated crosstown foes DePaul and Northwestern this season, while UIC went 1-1, falling to Northwestern in overtime. Loyola has won four of its last seven matches over UIC.
RPI Update
According to first official RPI Update from the NCAA, Missouri State sits 20th in the RPI with Loyola coming in at No. 41. The MVC ranks 11th as a conference. All three of Loyola's losses are to Top 40 RPI teams (Missouri State, Cal St. Fullerton and Loyola Marymount) and are all one goal losses.
MVC in Regional Rankings
The MVC has four teams currently ranked in the latest United Soccer Coaches West Regional rankings released on Tuesday (Oct. 15). Missouri State moved up to the top spot in the region and sits No. 1, while Loyola (6th), Drake (9th) and Bradley (10th) also sit in the poll.
Polling
Missouri State continues to appear in the national rankings this week, appearing at No. 14 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, No. 22 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 25 and No. 16 in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll. The No. 14 ranking marks the highest spot for the Bears since the 2005 team peaked at No. 9 during an eight-week stretch inside the top-25.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are Loyola's Aidan Megally and Missouri State's Greg Stratton.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Aidan Megally, Sr., MF, Loyola
For the second match in a row, Loyola senior Aidan Megally notched two goals to guide Loyola in a 2-0 win at Northwestern. The senior also tallied a goal in Loyola’s 2-0 win over Valparaiso on Saturday. Megally has scored five goals in the last three matches and is tied with Missouri State’s Matthew Bentley for most goals in the MVC with seven.
Other Notable Performances: Erik Fahner (DU); Matthew Bentley (MSU)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Greg Stratton, Jr., D, Missouri State
Defender Greg Stratton played a key role for the Missouri State defense that allowed just one goal in the Bears’ sweep of conference opponents Drake and Bradley last week. Stratton and the MSU backline recorded the team’s fourth straight shutout in a 3-0 win against Bradley on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The defense held the Braves to just two shots in the first half and six overall to preserve the clean sheet for MSU. The junior from Marietta, Ga. played the full 90 minutes in the Bears’ 3-1 win over Drake on Sunday, Oct. 13. The Bears extended their season-long streak of holding opponents scoreless in the second half and overtime. Stratton was one of eight MSU players to record a shot against Drake as the Bears posted a 17-3 shot advantage over the Bulldogs on Sunday.
Other Notable Performances: Liam Wilson (DU)