Men’s Soccer Meets Creighton at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City

(RV) Missouri State (5-2-1, 2-0-1 MVC) vs. Creighton (4-2-3, 0-1-1 Big East)
Date	Tuesday, October 1 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Location	Kansas City, Missouri
Site	Swope Soccer Village
Admission	Free
Follow Along	Live Stats | Game Notes (PDF)
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SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State men’s soccer (5-2-1, 2-0-1 Missouri Valley Conference) concludes a three-match trip away from home with its lone regular season neutral site match of the year against Creighton (4-2-3, 0-1-1 Big East) at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City. Directions to the venue can be found here. Admission is free and kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. CT.

On the Pitch

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

 

• Since the beginning of the 2019 season, Missouri State men’s soccer holds the best DI I overall record of 76-13-9 (.821), best conference record of 41-2-4 (.915) and second-best home record of 43-6-4 (.849), behind Hofstra (41-4-5, .870). The Bears were tied for the 18th-best win percentage in 2023 (.711).

 

• 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 extended its unbeaten streak to five matches with a hard-fought, 1-1, draw at No. 11 Western Michigan on Saturday. The Bears took a season-high 20 shots and held the Broncos to a season-low seven shots.

 

• The Bears allowed an early goal by Roni Sylejamni in the sixth minute and trailed for 75 minutes of the match before Senior forward Jesus Barea tied the match in the 80th minute. The Sylejamni’s goal was WMU’s lone shot on goal and the Broncos were held to just one shot in the second half.

 

• Barea’s goal against WMU was his 10th of the season, matching UMass’ Alec Hughes for the most in the nation while having played one less game than Hughes.

 

• Barea leads the nation in goals per game (1.25), points per game (2.63), and shots on goal per game (3.71). He is second in shots per game (5.13), behind Presbyterian’s Damorney Hutchinson (5.17). 

 

• MoState has the sixth-highest shot accuracy in DI with 58 of 107 shots being on goal (.542). Missouri State was fourth in that category last season with 124 of 240 shots being on goal (.517). Barea is second individually in the nation in shot accuracy with 29 of 41 shots being on goal (.707). He only trails Duke’s Ulfur Bjornson, who has 17 of 24 shots on goal (.708). Barea was fourth in shot accuracy last year (.604).

 

• Barea is third all-time in Missouri State history in goals (29) and points (74) and is second in shots (221). He trails Jamal Sutton (2000-03) by 15 career shots (236) for the program record.

 

• Missouri State is tied with No. 6 West Virginia for the fifth-most shots on goal per game in Division I (7.25). Only No. 4 Ohio State (8.56), Wake Forest (8), Duke (7.88) and Howard (7.29) average more such shots per game.

 

• Missouri State’s stifling defense has allowed two goals during its five-match unbeaten streak. The Bears have only allowed five shots on goal in that span. MoState is outshooting opponents 107-50 across the season.

 

• Senior goalkeeper Harry Townsend’s 25 career solo shutouts are the second most among active DI goalkeepers behind Duke’s Wessel Speel with 26. Townsend is tied with Liam Priestley for third in shutouts in program history, two shy of Michael Creek’s record of 27.

Series History vs. Creighton

• The Missouri State Bears and Creighton Bluejays go head-to-head for the 38th time overall and seventh time at a neutral site. Creighton leads the all-time series 24-9-4.

 

• Each of the last two meetings between the teams has come in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays won each matchup with a 1-0 win in 2021 in Springfield and a 2-1 win in 2022 in Omaha. Jesus Barea is the lone Missouri State player to appear in both matches. He earned an assist on MoState’s one goal against Creighton in 2022. Assistant coach Kian Yari was also on both squads.

 

• The two teams played an exhibition match at Swope Soccer Village last season on Aug. 19, 2023.

Scouting the Bluejays

• Creighton enters Tuesday’s match 4-2-3 with a 0-1-1 Big East record. The Bluejays hold wins against Drake, San Francisco, (RV) Grand Canyon and Tulsa. Creighton opened Big East play with a 1-0 loss to Georgetown on Sept. 20 and a 2-2 draw with No. 18 Providence on Sept. 28.

 

• The Bluejays took a 2-0 lead over Providence early in the second half on Saturday with goals from Ali Ramadan (12′) and Roman Torres (48′), each being their second goals of the season. Providence fought back with two goals from Bruno Rosa. The equalizer came with four seconds left in the match.

 

• Creighton is eighth in the nation in corner kicks per game (7.11) to lead the Big East. It is one of nine programs in Division I to average at least seven corners per game. Providence is 10th in the nation at 6.8 corners per game. Each team had five on Saturday’s matchup.

 

• Ten Creighton players combine for the team’s 17 goals this season. Senior midfielder Jackson Castro and freshman forward Gavrilo Civric lead the team with three goals apiece. Castro’s three goals against San Francisco, Denver and Tulsa put him to 16 in his career. He played in both tournament matches against Missouri State and notched the game-winning assist in 2021. 

 

• Santa Clara transfer Blake Gillingham has played every minute of Creighton’s nine matches. He 23 saves on 12 goals allowed. He has three shutouts this season against Florida Atlantic, Grand Canyon and Tulsa. He has four career shutouts at Creighton and one at Santa Clara in 2022.

 

• Creighton averages the second-most fouls per game in the DI (17), only behind UC Santa Barbara (17.33).