SPRINGFIELD – The No. 16-ranked Missouri State men’s soccer team came away with a huge 2-1 victory over the Omaha Mavericks here Wednesday to end its nonconference slate and its three-game home stand.
The teams traded goals in the first half before senior forward Jesus Barea nailed the game-winner into the top-right corner in the 76th minute to clinch it for the Bears (7-1-3).
“I think that was a huge win,” assistant coach Danny Frid said. “That was a really, really good Omaha team. We had to run hard all night.”
Two of the most fast-paced offenses in the nation came out strong out of the gate despite a one-hour delay to start the match. Omaha got two quick shots, including one on goal that was saved by senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend before Missouri State scored its earliest goal all season. Sophomore forward Gijs Hovius broke away and found senior forward Jon Koka in the 15th minute for his second goal of the season.
The goal snapped a two-game scoreless streak for the Bears, the longest Missouri State had gone without a goal since the end of the 2018 season.
“It was individuals making plays in [Omaha’s] box,” assistant coach Jordan Valentine said. “We sure did that tonight with shots on target and testing the keeper. We knew if we kept doing that, eventually we’d find that little bit of quality that would find us the goal.”
Playing with a lead for the first time since its 6-0 win against Bradley, the Bears held down the Mavericks until the end of the first half when junior midfielder Junior Casillas launched a perfectly placed shot in the lower-left corner of the net to tie the game up in the 44th minute. The goal sent each team tied at the half.
Both teams battled for possession throughout the second half. Koka had a clean look at the goal in the opening minute that was saved by junior goalkeeper Nathaneal Sallah, who had a season-high six saves. The Bears kept Sallah busy all night, firing 10 total shots with nine of them being on goal.
Omaha methodically kept the ball on the Missouri State side waiting for the right moment to strike. The Mavericks’ balanced attack also saw them get 10 shots evenly split across each half. Omaha got five shots on goal with Townsend making a season-high four saves. Both offenses proved to be consistent throughout. Omaha is the only team to match Missouri State in shots in a game all season.
The game looked to be heading toward a stalemate before Barea’s third goal and third game-winning goal of the season. He now joins Hovius and senior forward Pablo Guillen as team leaders in goals this season.
Omaha responded with a shot attempt less than a minute later that Townsend saved.
The Bears prevented the Mavericks from getting many set pieces, only fouling seven times and allowing zero corner kicks.
Missouri State ends the regular season with a 3-1-2 record against nonconference opponents. The Bears have four regular season conference games remaining and are currently atop the MVC standings. Missouri State will have the weekend off before going on the road for the first time this month against the Evansville Purple Aces (3-6-3, 1-2-1 MVC) on Wednesday, October 18 at 6:00 p.m.
“The boys dug in and got it done in the end,” Frid said. “That was important to get back into conference.”
The Purple Aces are coming off a 2-0 loss to Indiana on the road Wednesday night and will play UIC (7-3-2, 2-2-1 MVC) on Saturday in Chicago.
