Missouri State took over the top spot in the league standings following a 2-0 win over Belmont Sunday. The Bears are 3-0-0 in league play (9 pts), while Belmont (2-1-2, 8 pts) sits one point behind Missouri State. Drake (2-1-0, 6 pts) occupies the third slot in the standings, while Evansville (1-1-2, 5 pts) sits fourth. UIC (1-2-1, 4 pts), Bradley (1-3-1, 4 pts) and SIUE (1-3-0, 3 pts) round out the standings entering this week’s matches.
This week’s conference slate includes three matches on Saturday with all three on ESPN3. First place Missouri State will travel to UIC, while Belmont will head north to Drake. SIUE will host Evansville in the third and final Valley match.
RPI Update
According to first official RPI Update from the NCAA, the MVC has four teams sitting in the Top 100 of the RPI. Missouri State sits 26th in the RPI with Belmont (80), UIC (94) and Drake (100) also sitting among the Top 100. The MVC ranks 11th as a conference.
The last time the MVC finished the season with four teams sitting in the Top 100 of the RPI was 2012 (Bradley, Creighton, Evansville, SIUE).
National Team of the Week
Missouri State’s Lewis Green earned a spot on this week’s 13-member College Soccer News Team of the Week. Green put in a solid 90 minutes on the defensive side of the ball and scored out of a corner kick put in play by senior midfielder Zack Hargreaves to help Missouri State top Belmont 2-0 in a Missouri Valley Conference contest.
MVC in Regional Rankings
The MVC has four teams currently ranked in the latest United Soccer Coaches West Regional rankings (Oct. 11). Missouri State sits No. 3 in the region, while Belmont sits 7th, Drake 9th and Evansville 10th.
Valley Win Streak
Missouri State has won 13-straight Valley matches dating back to the 2020-21 season. The Bears’ last conference loss was to Loyola on April 8, 2021. In fact, since the 2019 season, Missouri State is 30-1-0 in Valley regular season matches, which is the best conference run nationally over that time period.
Road Win Streak
Missouri State enters the week riding a six match road win streak. The streak is currently the third longest active streak in the NCAA. The Bears last defeat on the road was at Tulsa on Sept. 3, 2021.
Current Active Road Win Streaks (NCAA)
1. Cornell 8
2. Vermont 7
3. Missouri State 6
Dating back to 2019, MSU has only lost two regular-season road matches. The Bears sported a 5-1 away record during the 2021 season, a 5-0 record during the 2020 season, an 8-1-1 record during the 2019 season and are currently 1-0 in road contests this year.
BEL: On the Brink
A fifth-year senior, forward Liam O’Brien is just one Bruin victory away from becoming Belmont’s all-time winningest player. He has been involved in 34 match wins over five seasons and is tied with recent program graduates Ares Marlonsson (2017-21) and Esteban Lestido (2017-21) for the most triumphs while donning the Bruins jersey. Graduate midfielder JP Armbruster and senior midfielders Kyle Barks and Corey Lavinder, who began their Belmont careers in 2019, aren’t too far behind with 30 match wins.
BRAD: Productive Week
The Braves picked up their first points of the MVC soccer season, recording a win and a draw during the week. Bradley claimed its first win of the MVC season with a 1-0 win at home over Drake. The Braves also earned another point, registering a 0-0 draw with Evansville.
DU: Valley Home Stretch
Drake finished their 2022 non-conference slate this week with a road draw at Wisconsin. The Bulldogs are now set for a key conference stretch to close out the regular season with three home games and two away from Des Moines. Drake is currently alone in third place in the MVC standings with an overall record of 4-2-3 and league mark of 2-1.
UE: Shutouts Upon Shutouts
Evansville’s defense continues to show its force, adding two more this past week in MVC competition. With clean sheets against Belmont and Bradley, the season total rises to five for the Aces. The last time UE recorded five-or-more shutouts in a season was in 2017, when Matthew Keller and Frederik Reimer combined for seven clean sheets.
UIC: Hosting the Leaders
UIC will welcome Valley-leading Missouri State to Flames Field on Saturday, looking to give the Bears their first loss in Valley play. The teams were conference mates previously, meeting in 1989 as Mid-Continent foes. Saturday’s match will be just the third all-time between the programs.
MOST: Scoring Offense
While putting forth a solid defensive front through the team’s first 10 matches of the season, the Bears have also produced an active offensive effort. MSU currently ranks 15th in the nation for scoring offense, averaging 2.50 goals per game. Last season, the Bears averaged 2.05 goals per game while in 2020 the team averaged 1.86 per match.
SIUE: First Valley Win
SIUE picked up its first Conference win of the year Sunday vs. UIC. The win snapped a five-game winless streak (0-4-1) for SIUE. The two goals on Sunday were also the first goals of the MVC season for SIUE.
This week's Missouri Valley Conference Players of the Week are Missouri State's Lewis Green and Bradley's Nick Burke.
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lewis Green, Sr., D, Missouri State
Lewis Green’s game winning goal on Sunday afternoon gave the Bears their third-straight Missouri Valley Conference win. In the 30th minute against Belmont, Green penetrated the Bruins’ defensive efforts, netting his fifth goal of the season. Green has now scored in four out of the last five games for MSU, including a multi-goal game against Evansville. In Sunday’s win over Belmont, Green played all 90 minutes in route to becoming the Bears’ second-leading goal scorer this season.
Other Notable Performances: Max Broughton (SIUE)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Nick Burke, Jr., GK, Bradley
Bradley junior goalkeeper Nick Burke helped the Braves to a 1-0-1 record during the week, playing the full 90 minutes in both contests while collecting two clean sheets against Drake and Evansville. Burke had two saves in the win over Drake and added three saves in the draw with Evansville. The junior also continues to be ranked first in the valley in total saves and saves per game.
Other Notable Performances: Marc Vila (UE); Harry Townsend (MOST), Eric Bauche (SIUE)