No. 19 Missouri State Hands Bruins First MVC Setback

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Taking on the 19th-ranked team in the nation on the road Sunday afternoon in Springfield, Missouri, the Belmont University men's soccer team competed for 90 minutes but was handed its first Missouri Valley Conference loss of the season, 2-0, at Missouri State. The host Bears (7-1-2, 3-0-0 MVC) found the back of the net off a corner kick in the 31st minute and scored in the 89th minute, snapping the Bruins' program record-tying seven-match unbeaten streak.
 
Belmont (5-2-4, 2-1-2 MVC) created opportunities to score midway through the first half, early in the second half and late in the match but couldn't find the space between the pipes. Racking up 18 total shots for the afternoon, including six on target, Missouri State controlled the field the majority of the opening 45 minutes.
 
Junior defender Case Cox nearly put the visiting Bruins up 1-0 in the 26th minute as he dove near the far post on a deep free kick from freshman defender Riley Clothier. However, his header was saved before the Bears scored minutes later. Junior midfielder Michael Saunders had a chance right before Missouri State's first goal but was tripped up inside the box near the touchline.
 
Defender Lewis Green gave the home team a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute when he punched in his fifth goal of the year off acrobatic volleys from forward Nicolo Mulatero and defender Michael Peck following one of the Bears' five first-half corners.
 
Penetrating Missouri State's defense early and often in the second half, Belmont created chances for an equalizer. Sophomore defender Dylan Steely had a shot on goal in the 48th minute and freshman forward Brock Kiper had a header inside the box drift wide left in the 55th minute.
 
After getting into the attacking third on a regular basis within the first 15 minutes of the second half, the Bruins almost knotted things up once again in the 77th minute when a shot from senior forward Liam O'Brien barely slid right of the post. O'Brien's shot would be Belmont's final of the match as the Bruins got just one more opportunity in the closing minute when they earned a corner.
 
The Bears' second goal of the afternoon came on a counter-attack with just under 90 seconds remaining when Missouri State forward Aadne Bruseth struck a pass from fellow forward Jesus Barea.
 
Belmont tallied a trio of shots in each half but only two of those were on target. The Bears secured eight corner kicks while limiting Belmont to three corners and a single corner in the first half. Missouri State recorded 10 second-half shots.
 
For the second consecutive match this week, graduate goalkeeper Nate Logan notched four saves.
 
Of Note
The loss is the Bruins' first since a 3-0 setback at now third-ranked Kentucky. Belmont's only two losses this season have come on the road at top-25 opponents. The Bruins sit just one point from MVC leader Missouri State in the conference standings with eight league points. The Bears extended their winning streak against Valley opponents to 13 and improved to 30-1-0 in MVC regular season matches since the start of the 2019 season.
 
Up Next
Belmont has almost a week off from match action before traveling to Drake next Saturday. Kickoff from the James Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines, Iowa, is slated for 12 p.m. with the MVC contest broadcast on ESPN3.
 
Follow Belmont men's soccer on social media – @BelmontMSoccer on Twitter, @belmontmsoccer on Instagram and Belmont University Men's Soccer on Facebook – for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.