INDIANAPOLIS – The Missouri State men’s soccer team punched its ticket into the 2023 NCAA Tournament as the Bears will welcome the Omaha Mavericks to Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium for the first round on Thursday, November 16 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
The Bears enter the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid with a record of 11-3-3 after finishing runner-up in the Missouri Valley Conference standings and MVC Tournament. Missouri State fell to Western Michigan (15-1-3) in the MVC Tournament championship game last Saturday 2-1 to snap a streak of three consecutive conference tournament championships.
Missouri State will also enter the tournament tied for 19th in winning percentage across the nation (.735).
Missouri State will make its fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament, joining Kentucky, Indiana, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh, New Hampshire, Georgetown, Marshall and Clemson as the only nine teams in the nation to make every tournament since 2019.
Omaha (8-7-4) made the tournament as an automatic qualifier after winning the Summit League Tournament as the No. 3 seed, defeating No. 2 Oral Roberts in the semifinal and No. 4 Kansas City in the title game.
The Mavericks come to Springfield for the second time this season after playing the Bears on October 11 during the regular season. Missouri State defeated Omaha 2-1 thanks to a game-winning goal from senior forward Jesus Barea in the 75th minute.
Including Thursday’s game against Omaha, Missouri State will have hosted its first-round matchup in three of the last five seasons. In 2019, the Bears hosted and defeated Denver to win their first-ever NCAA Tournament game. The following year, Missouri State defeated Maryland to reach the Sweet 16.
Missouri State has faced Creighton in the first round each of the last two seasons with the Bears hosting in 2021 and the Bluejays hosting in 2022. Creighton won both games.
The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the second round and go on the road to take on No. 16-seeded Stanford (9-3-5) on Sunday, November 19.
