The Bears men’s soccer team lost its conference opener in the Mississippi Valley Conference to the Missouri State Bears, 2-1, in Springfield, Mo., on Saturday.
UCA, now 1-6-2, trailed the entire game as Missouri State scored in the final 10 minutes of the first period and then again toward the end of the match. UCA snuck in one goal in the final five minutes of the game.
Senior midfielder for Missouri State Heath Melugin struck first during the game. Melugin scored off of a crossover assist from senior forward Jordan Hoffman and freshman midfielder Parker Maher during the 34th minute of play. Missouri State would not score again until the end of the game during the second period, but that did not stop them from attacking the goal heavily.
Missouri State had 17 shots during the game with seven on the goal, while UCA only got off seven shots with only one on the goal. Melugin and Hoffman led Missouri State in shots with four each.
During the second period, sophomore midfielder for Missouri State scored the second goal for the Bears during the 75th minute of play. He was assisted and scored up the middle. UCA did not get on the scoreboard until the 85th minute of the game when junior forward Ethan Miller scored off of a free kick that was fed to him from freshman midfielder Elia Louis.
The Bears will play again tonight in Edwardsville, Ill., at 7 against the SIU Edwardsville Cougars.
• The Bears women’s soccer team lost to conference rival Stephen F. Austin Lady Lumberjacks, 6-0, in Nacogdoches, Texas on Friday.
The loss takes the Bears record down to 5-6-1 and the Lady Lumberjacks improved to 8-2-1. The Lady Lumberjacks split their goals with two in the first period and then four in the second. During the second period, the Lady Lumberjacks scored all four goals in a time period of 25 minutes. They had 30 shots recorded during the game with 14 on the goal. The Bears only had two shots during the game with neither of them on the goal.
