Men’s Soccer Looks to Bounce Back in Home Opener Against Pacific

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State men’s soccer (0-1) returns from California after a disappointing loss at UC Santa Barbara last Thursday for its home opener against the University of the Pacific Tigers (1-0) on Monday, August 26 at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT.

On the Pitch

• Missouri State is coming off back-to-back 12-win seasons under head coach Michael Seabolt, who enters his third season at the helm of the program. MSU has won at least 12 games each season since 2019.

• The Bears dropped their season opener on the road against UC Santa Barbara last Thursday, 3-1. It was the first time Missouri has lost a season opener since 2017 at Air Force. The three goals allowed by the Bears were the most in a season opener since allowing three goals at SMU in 2010. MSU has not lost a homer opener since 2011 against Belmont.

• Missouri State men’s soccer holds the best DI overall record of 71-12-8 (.824), best conference record of 39-2-3 (.920) and second-best home record of 40-5-4 (.857) since the beginning of the 2019 season. The Bears were tied for the 18th-best win percentage in 2023 (.71

• MSU has made five straight NCAA appearances, joining Kentucky, Indiana, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, New Hampshire, Georgetown, Marshall and Clemson as the only nine DI teams in the nation to make every tournament since 2019.

• Missouri State hired former All-American midfielder Kian Yari to the coaching staff in May following a stellar five-year career with the Bears that saw three straight MVC Tournament titles (2020-22) and four straight MVC regular season titles (2019-22). Yari was a 2021 United Soccer Coaches All-American, 2021 and 2022 CSC Academic All-American and the 2021 MVC Midfielder of the Year. He ended his career third all-time in assists as a Bear with 22, including four in 2023.

• Last season, the Bears were fourth in the nation in shot accuracy with 124 of 240 shots being on goal (.517) only behind SIUE (.528), UNC Wilmington (.520) and South Florida (.518). Missouri State outshot opponents 240-124 through 19 games and was tied for 23rd in DI with a 31-14 goal differential (+17).

• Senior forward Jesus Barea returns for a fifth season following a 2023 campaign with career highs in goal (6), points (16), shots on goal (29), game-winning goals (3) and minutes played (1,454). He scored his 20th career goal on Thursday, putting him tied for 10th in school history in goals, ninth in career points (55) and tied for fourth in career shots (184). 

• Senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend also returns for a fifth season at net for the Bears. The All-West Region player’s 23 career shutouts are the second most among active DI players behind Duke goalkeeper Wessel Speel’s 25. Townsend is tied for fourth in shutouts in program history, four shy of Michael Creek’s record of 27 clean sheets.

• Since 2019, Missouri State is 51-0-0 when scoring two or more goals. The last time the Bears scored two goals and did not win was Nov. 9, 2018, in the MVC semifinals vs. Central Arkansas when Missouri State lost in penalty kicks.

• Missouri State played a clean brand of soccer in 2023. The Bears were sixth in the nation in fewest fouls per game (8.89), only behind Boston College (8.12), fellow MVC opponent Belmont (8.56), Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and St. Bonaventure (8.71). The Bears only committed four fouls against UCSB on Thursday. No team had fewer in their opener.

Series History vs. Pacific

• The Missouri State Bears and University of the Pacific Tigers will play for the first time when they meet for MoState’s home opener Monday night. 

• The Bears are 9-1-1 all-time against current West Coast Conference teams. (Gonzaga: 3-0, LMU: 2-0-1, Oregon State: 1-0, Pacific: 0-0, Portland: 0-1, Saint Mary’s: 1-1, San Francisco: 0-0, Santa Clara: 2-0, San Diego: 0-0).

• The most recent WCC team Missouri State played was Santa Clara on the road to open the 2019 season, winning 1-0.

Scouting the Tigers

• The Missouri State Bears host the Pacific Tigers for their home opener in what will be MSU’s second game against a team from California this season. The Tigers went 5-8-4 last season with a 1-5-1 record in the WCC.

• Pacific defeated UC Davis at home, 1-0, Thursday night. Midfielder Jose Maria Barrera scored the lone goal in the 51st minute with assists from forward Kai Sullivan and midfielder Luca Baltzer. 

• The Tigers were outshot 14-9 by the Aggies on Thursday, including 10 UC Davis shots on goal compared to just three from Pacific.

• Last season, fifth-year senior Roque Derick scored nine of Pacific’s 22 goals while no one else scored more than two. Now the Tigers look for offensive production elsewhere. Former Missouri State forward Vincent Zingel could be an answer for Pacific. The German-born player scored his first career DI goal last season against Houston Christian (9/23). He attempted two shots in 79 minutes against UC Davis on Thursday.

• Pacific goalkeeper Joshua Moya recorded 10 saves on Thursday for his third career shutout. His 10 saves are more than any other Division I goalkeeper after one game this season. He had 54 saves on 25 goals allowed across 14 games last season.