Springfield Standard

The Missouri State men's soccer team secured a 2-2 draw against Charlotte on Sunday night, ensuring their place in the upcoming American Conference Men's Soccer Championship Tournament as the No. 5 seed.

Senior Daniele Verdirosi scored a penalty in the 86th minute, followed by an own goal from Charlotte in the 89th minute that was forced by junior Diego Real. These late goals allowed Missouri State to tie the match after trailing for most of the game. The Bears will face No. 4 seed FIU in the quarterfinals on Friday evening.

Missouri State began creating scoring opportunities early, with freshman Harry Hogben taking the first shot in the seventh minute. However, Charlotte took an early lead when Natsuki Ogata scored in the 13th minute, assisted by Ben Fisher and Jemone Barclay.

Despite several attempts by Missouri State players—including seniors Ollie Bate and Fumiya Shiraishi and juniors Alex Matthews and Daniele Aracri—the Bears were unable to score in the first half. Charlotte extended their lead in the second half with a goal from Elias Arsvoll, assisted by Tate Asante.

In the 75th minute, Charlotte's Jemone Barclay had another shot on goal, but senior goalkeeper Will Lowry made a save to keep Missouri State within reach.

The match shifted in the final minutes when Landon Petz of Charlotte committed a foul on Verdirosi, resulting in a penalty kick after video review. Verdirosi converted it to narrow the deficit. "I tried to just focus on the kick and I was so happy to score and help the team come back tonight," said Verdirosi after the game.

Missouri State continued pressing forward, and Real's effort led to an own goal from Charlotte, leveling the score at 2-2 with only minutes remaining.

Both teams finished with similar statistics: Missouri State recorded 10 shots (two on target) and nine corner kicks; Charlotte had 11 shots (five on target) and eight corners.

"This has been a challenging season, but the boys have risen to the occasion," said head coach Michael Seabolt. "As for my seniors, I am very proud to get to work with this great group of young men and I feel very honored to work with such a great group of guys and be able to coach at Missouri State."

Charlotte earned top seed status for the tournament and shared first place in regular-season conference standings with Florida Atlantic, which took second seed. Both teams received first-round byes. In other tournament action, South Florida will host Tulsa in another quarterfinal matchup.