EVANSVILLE - Freshman Pablo Guillen scored his fourth goal of the season in spectacular fashion as the University of Evansville men's soccer team fell to No. 8 Missouri State, 4-1, on Tuesday evening at Arad McCutchan Stadium in Evansville.

"We saw a very mature Missouri State team that has an identity and understanding of who they are and how they want to play," said Aces head men's soccer coach Marshall Ray. "They were very good this evening at pressing us and it took us too long to recognize that we weren't going to be able to play through it. In the second half when we were able to play more direct, we created several more chances and made a bit more of a game of it and were competing. We've got to learn to recognize those things a bit earlier on the field. Again the guys fought and battled to the end, but what we have to do now is get ourselves prepared to go on the road and get points at Loyola and keep ourselves in the mix to get to the MVC Tournament."

Missouri State started the match on the offensive and controlled much of the possession in the first half. The Bears out-shot Evansville in the opening 45 minutes, 15-2, and put six of those on-frame. In the 20th minute, Missouri State scored first as Nicolo Mulatero turned-in passes from Aadne Bruseth and Jesus Barea.

Just before the half, the Bears added a goal as the aforementioned Bruseth curled a shot from just inisde the 18 past Aces keeper Jacob Madden to give Missouri State a 2-0 lead heading into the break.

The second half featured a much more even split of offensive production between the two sides. Evansville recorded seven shots in the second half, while the Bears finished with 11 shots. In the 58th minute, the Bears scored their third of the night with Mulatero adding a brace off the assist from Kian Yari.

Evansville was persistent, looking to pull a goal back and the Aces did just that in the 80th minute. After a ball from junior Evan Dekker was headed into the air twice, Guillen sent a volley from 25 yards out that struck the crossbar and bounced into the back of the net. The goal is Guillen's fourth of the year and second coming in play with two others coming at the spot.

Closing-out the contest, Missouri State's Josh Dolling recorded his first goal of the season, earning Joel Peterson an assist as the Bears earned the 4-1 win.

Evansville goalkeepers Jacob Madden and Matt Bryant combined for six saves with senior Raphaello Colasito earning a team save in the first half.

The Aces return to action on Sunday when Evansville treks to Chicago for a matchup with Loyola.
 

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