Springfield Standard

Missouri State University's men's soccer team, ranked No. 24, will play the No. 18 Kansas City Roos on Monday, August 25 at Durwood Soccer Stadium in Kansas City. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.

This game is a rematch of last season's NCAA Championships Second Round meeting, where the Roos defeated Missouri State 2-1 in Springfield. The Bears are coming off a strong start to their season with a 4-1 win over Seattle, highlighted by senior Fumiya Shiraishi scoring all four goals and tying the school record for most goals in a single match.

Historically, Missouri State leads the series against Kansas City with a record of 24-6-2 and has performed well when playing in Kansas City, holding a 10-3-1 record there. Although the Roos won both matches last season in Springfield, Missouri State claimed victory during their last visit to Kansas City in 2023 and has not lost there in their past six games.

Under head coach Michael Seabolt, Missouri State has achieved three consecutive seasons with at least twelve wins. Since the start of the 2019 season, the Bears have posted an overall Division I record of 83-15-10 (.815), leading all programs nationally during that period. Their conference record stands at 46-2-4 (.923), and they had one of the top home records as well.

The team made its sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance last year and is one of only seven Division I teams—including Clemson, Georgetown, Indiana, Marshall, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh—to qualify for every tournament since 2019.

Entering this season ranked No. 24 by United Soccer Coaches Poll, Missouri State has appeared in at least one national poll for eight consecutive years. The team also ranks among the best nationally for shot accuracy over recent seasons; last year they put nearly half their shots on target and finished fourth nationwide in that metric.

Senior goalkeeper Will Lowry was ranked fifth nationally last year for goals against average (.674), conceding just nine goals across more than 1,200 minutes played. Defensively, Missouri State allowed only fifteen goals all season—tied for ninth fewest nationally.

This year marks Missouri State’s first competing as part of the American Conference after thirty-four years with the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). During their time in MVC play since 1997, they collected twelve regular-season championships and four conference tournament titles while making nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

In preseason polling within their new conference home, MSU was picked to finish fifth but received one first-place vote and sits just two points behind second place overall. Senior Alex Matthews was named a preseason all-league selection and appears on this year's Hermann Trophy Watch List—a recognition given annually to college soccer’s top player.

The Bears return four players who earned All-Missouri Valley Conference honors last year: Alex Matthews (first-team), James Jennings (second-team), Fumiya Shiraishi (second-team) and Will Lowry (second-team).