Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - In a road MVC contest, the University of Evansville men's soccer team mounted a late rally, but dropped a 2-1 match to 10th-ranked Missouri State on Saturday evening in Springfield, Mo.

"I can't say enough about how hard the team battled and fought back from a 2-0 deficit against a good, top 10 ranked conference opponent who is undefeated," said Aces head men's soccer coach Marshall Ray. "We worked hard in the second half to get back in the game at 2-1. We created a lot of chances at the end of regulation with a few close ones. It's been a frustrating season with injuries, but the guys have never given up and have kept battling. We're looking forward to the opportunity to get ourselves through the next week or two and get prepared for the conference tournament. We feel like, after tonight, we've proved we can play with any team in the conference, but just have to be a little more in tune defensively and on set pieces and be prepared to play 90 minutes."

The Bears jumped in front early with a goal as Missouri State scored in the fifth minute on a goal by Jack Denton. Evansville has multiple opportunities to equalize as Jakub Hall, Nkosi Graham, and Jesse Stafford-Lacey all recorded shots in the first half.

Evansville recorded two shots on goal early in the second half as Stafford-Lacey and freshman Lucas Weir each had their shots saved. In the 59th minute, Missouri State doubled it's advantage with a goal by Matthew Bentley. The Aces pushed back with 25 minutes left as redshirt freshman Jakub Hall recorded his first collegiate goal to bring Evansville within one. The opportunities continued to build for Evansville as sophomore Ryan Harris put a pair of shots on-goal in the final 15 minutes, but Bears' goalkeeper Michael Creek turned both away. As time began to run thin, redshirt sophomore Davis Peck sent a shot towards goal that missed high as Missouri State held on for the 2-1 win.

In the loss, Hall recorded four shots, including two on-goal, as Evansville out-shot Missouri State, 14-10.

Evansville returns to action on the road at Loyola on Wednesday night at 7 PM in Chicago, Ill.
 

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