SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Missouri State scored twice in the final six minutes to break open a close match and defeat the University of Evansville men's soccer team 3-0 Wednesday night. The Bears extended their unbeaten streak in Missouri Valley Conference regular season matches to 11, and improved their record to 5-5-2 overall and 3-0-1 in the Valley. Evansville is 5-8-1 and 1-3-0 heading into its final road match of the regular season, Sunday at Bradley.
Wednesday's match was the first between the two teams since Evansville knocked off Missouri State's MVC championship team 2-1 in last November's State Farm MVC Tournament semifinals. The Bears took the lead Wednesday on Gerard Barbero's penalty kick in the 24th minute. It stayed 1-0 until Heath Melugin scored in the 84th minute, and Jordan Hoffman made it 3-0 with less than a minute to play. Missouri State finished with a narrow 15-14 edge in shots. Mike Luttrull led the Aces with four shots, and Tad Kreamalmeyer added two shots on goal. UE goalkeeper Robert Randant made four saves and MSU's Alex Riggs made five to earn the shutout.
