Soccer Visits No. 9 Missouri State

Bradley Soccer will play its final road game of the 2021 regular season Sunday by visiting ninth-ranked Missouri State

Bobby Parker, Sr. Associate AD for Communications and Event & Facility Operations Soccer 10/30/2021 9:00:00 AM

Bradley Soccer will play its final road game of the 2021 regular season Sunday evening by paying a visit to ninth-ranked Missouri State.

GAME PREVIEW
Bradley Braves (3-10-1, 2-6-0 MVC) at #9 Missouri State Bears (13-1-0, 8-0-0 MVC)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021
Time: 5:00 p.m. CT
Location: Springfield, MO
Venue: Allison South Stadium

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO
• Bradley Soccer will play its final regular-season road game of the season Sunday, when the Braves visit Missouri Valley Conference rival Missouri State for a Halloween showdown at Allison South Stadium.
• No. 9 Missouri State will be looking to clinch its third straight MVC regular-season crown Sunday, while the Braves attempt to position themselves to host one of the two quarterfinal games in next month's MVC Men's Soccer Championship as a top four seed.
• Boasting the nation's second-best winning percentage (.929), Missouri State also will be seeking its 11th consecutive win overall, its 12th consecutive home win and its 26th win in its last 27 MVC regular-season games.
• Following Sunday's game, all six Valley teams will play their final regular-season games Saturday: Bradley will host Evansville, while Missouri State will visit Loyola Chicago, both 7 p.m. games to be broadcast by The Valley on ESPN.

SERIES HISTORY
43rd Meeting • Missouri State leads 29-9-4 • Bears lead 16-4-2 at Missouri State
• Sunday's game will be the 43rd meeting in the all-time series between the Braves and Bears, which dates back to Bradley's second season as a NCAA program, a 2-0 Missouri State victory in non-conference action Sept. 24, 1988 at Peoria Notre Dame High School.
• Missouri State's 29 wins in the series are the most by any opponent against Bradley.
• Since Bradley posted the most-lopsided victory by either team in the series, a 4-0 win Oct. 17, 2015 at Shea Stadium, Missouri State has reeled off a series-long nine-game winning streak against the Braves.

ON THE CUSP
• As Bradley's young lineup fights through a tough season, the Braves have been living on the edge all year.
• Through the season's first 14 regular-season games, 12 have been decided by just one goal and the Braves have scored first in five of those games, including three losses.
• To date, the 12-of-14 (.857) regular-season games decided by no more than one goal is the second-highest percentage of 1-goal decisions during a regular season in the program's 35 years.
• Both of the two losses by more than one goal this season came against Loyola Chicago, 3-0 Sept. 29 in Peoria and 3-1 Wednesday night in Chicago.
Percentage of 1-Goal Games in Bradley Regular-Season History
Season GP <1 goal ="" pct. ="" w-l-t ="">
2011 19 17 .895 11-4-2 .706
2021 14 12 .857 3-8-1 .292
2018 17 14 .824 7-3-4 .643
2010 19 14 .737 7-5-2 .571
2001 18 13 .722 8-4-1 .654
• Dating back to the 2021 COVID spring season, 17 of Bradley's last 19 regular-season games have been decided by no more than one goal.

SEEDING SCENARIOS
• Bradley is in a 4-way battle for a top-four seed for next month's MVC Men's Soccer Championship, which brings with it a home game Nov. 9 in the first round of the tournament.
• While Missouri State and Loyola Chicago have clinched byes into the semifinals, Bradley (2-6-0), Drake (3-5-0), Evansville (2-5-1) and SIU Edwardsville (2-6-0) all are battling for the third and fourth seeds.
• With two rounds of league play remaining, all four teams have the ability to finish anywhere from alone in third to alone in sixth with a great number of seeding scenarios at play.
Bradley (2-6-0, 6 points): Sunday at Missouri State, Nov. 6 vs. Evansville - The Braves need a minimum of two points from their last two matches for a shot at the No. 4 seed and the opportunity to host the No. 5 seed, a minimum point total that also requires SIUE to also gain no more than two points and Evansville to lose both of its remaining matches.
Drake (3-4-0, 9 points): Sunday at Evansville, Nov. 6 vs. SIU Edwardsville - The Bulldogs can clinch a top-four finish by beating either Evansville or SIUE, but scenarios are available to maintain a top-four slot without gaining any more points.
Evansville (2-5-1, 7 points): Sunday vs. Drake, Nov. 6 at Bradley - The Aces can climb to as high as No. 3 with a win Sunday at Drake, but could maintain a top-four slot by earning a draw Nov. 6 at Bradley
SIU Edwardsville (2-6-0, 6 points): Sunday vs. Loyola Chicago, Nov. 6 at Drake - The Cougars need at least two points, which also would require Evansville to lose both its matches and Bradley to gain no more than one point.

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