Springfield Standard

Missouri State University’s men’s soccer team will host Memphis in an American Conference match at the Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium in Springfield, Missouri, on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m.

The Bears enter the game with a 5-5-2 record this season. They recently secured wins against Drake and South Florida, handing both teams their first losses of the year. Currently, Missouri State sits seventh in the American Conference standings with six points and three matches left in the regular season. The team’s next two opponents, Memphis and Tulsa, are tied for fourth place with nine points each, putting the Bears in a position to influence their chances of making the six-team conference tournament field. Missouri State will close out its regular season by hosting first-place Charlotte on Nov. 2.

Fumiya Shiraishi has contributed to half of the Bears’ goals this season and is recognized as a three-time American Conference Offensive Player of the Week—the first Bear to achieve three offensive weekly conference awards in one season.

Senior goalkeeper Will Lowry holds third place in program history for goals-against average at 0.74. Michael Creek set the school record with an average of 0.69 from 2018 to 2021. In 2024, Lowry ranked fifth nationally with a goals-against average of .674, allowing just nine goals over more than 1,200 minutes played.

Memphis leads the all-time series against Missouri State 9-6-2, but the Bears won last year’s meeting on the road by a score of 3-1.

Since 2019, Missouri State has recorded an overall Division I record of 86-20-12 (.780), holding one of the top records nationally during that span and maintaining a strong home record as well.

Missouri State has qualified for six consecutive NCAA tournaments since 2019, joining Clemson, Georgetown, Indiana, Marshall, Wake Forest and Pittsburgh as one of only seven Division I teams to appear every year during that period.

The team was ranked in each of the first two United Soccer Coaches Polls in 2025 and has appeared in at least one poll for eight straight seasons.

This is Missouri State’s inaugural season competing in the American Conference after spending over three decades in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). During their time in MVC play since 1997, they claimed twelve regular-season championships and four conference tournament titles while making nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

Preseason polls picked MSU to finish fifth in their new league this year with a first-place vote; Alex Matthews was named preseason all-league selection and is also listed among candidates for college soccer’s Hermann Trophy award given annually to the nation’s top player.

The roster includes four returning all-Missouri Valley Conference honorees from last year: Alex Matthews (first team), James Jennings (second team), Fumiya Shiraishi (second team), and Will Lowry (second team).