After two weeks of MVC action, UIC and Missouri State are tied for the spot atop the league standings. The Flames and Bears are 2-0-0 in league play (6 pts), while Western Michigan (1-0-0, 3 pts), Bowling Green (1-1-0, 3 pts), Evansville (1-1-0, 3 pts) and Drake (1-1-0, 3 pts) all sit three points behind. Bradley (0-1-0), Belmont (0-2-0) and Northern Illinois (0-2-0) round out the standings.
Upcoming Valley Schedule
This week’s conference slate is highlighted by three league matchups on Saturday and another on Sunday.
Missouri State is riding a 20-match Valley unbeaten streak dating back to the 2020-21 season. The Bears’ last conference loss was to Loyola Chicago on April 8, 2021. In fact, since the 2019 season, Missouri State is 35-1-2 in Valley regular season matches, which is the best conference run nationally over that time period.
MVC STATS
NCAA Leaders
Western Michigan's Charlie Sharp, Missouri State's Harry Townsend, UIC's Jesus De Vicente and Bowling Green's Brendan Graves each enter the week ranking top three in the nation in a statistical category.
- Charlie Sharp (WMU): 2nd nationally in total goals (7)
- Harry Townsend (MOST): 3rd nationally in GAA (.167)
- Jesus DeVicente (UIC): 1st nationally in total assists (8)
- Brendan Graves (BGSU): 2nd nationally in total saves (47)
NCAA RPI UPDATE
According to first official RPI Update from the NCAA, the MVC has six teams sitting in the Top 100 of the RPI. UIC sits 10th in the RPI with Missouri State also in good position at 31st. Bowling Green (82), Western Michigan (94) Bradley (97) and Belmont (100) also sit among the Top 100. The MVC ranks 10th as a conference.
The last time the MVC finished the season with four teams sitting in the Top 100 of the RPI was 2012 (Bradley, Creighton, Evansville, SIUE).
Polling
Missouri State enters the top 10 in all three polls as the Bears sit at No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 (Sept. 26), No. 8 in the College Soccer News Top 30 poll and No. 10 in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25.
UIC moved up in this week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 (Sept. 26), appearing at No. 20 in the poll. The Flames also sit No. 27 in the College Soccer News Top 30.
Belmont Bruins
- The Bruins have been shut out in back-to-back matches for the first time since Oct. 9-15, 2022, when Belmont was defeated 2-0 at both No. 19 Missouri State and at Drake.
- The Bruins are 0-2 to begin conference play for the first time since 2016 when Belmont started 0-3 in the Horizon League.
- Stepping out of Valley action and traveling to Presbyterian College for a Tuesday matinee, the Bruins are putting in 1,636 miles on the road over a six-day stretch between matches in Springfield, Missouri, and Clinton, South Carolina.
BRADLEY Braves
- Bradley lost for the first time during the 2023 season, falling at Bowling Green, 3-1.
- The undefeated start of BU's 2023 season is the program's third-longest in history, a testament to the leadership of Head Coach Jim DeRose, who has guided the Braves to all of their top five best-undefeated starts.
Bowling green Falcons
- Senior Brendan Graves has played every second of the Falcons' last 31 matches – a total of 2,810 minutes. No other BGSU player has been between the posts since Oct. 22, 2021.
- Freshman Gus Peacock made his first collegiate start on Saturday night, and played all 90 minutes in the win over Bradley. Prior to that match, Peacock had played a total of just 23 seconds over the Falcons’ first eight games. A total of 18 different Falcons now have started at least one match this season to date.
DRAKE Bulldogs
- The Bulldogs were defeated in their second MVC match of the season in a 4-0 loss at No. 25 UIC. The Flames were Drake’s first ranked opponent of the year.
- The Bulldogs put their undefeated record against Belmont on the line this weekend with another road tilt. Drake leads their all-time series with the Bruins by a 3-0 margin and will square off against Belmont on Sunday, Oct. 1.
EVANSVILLE Purple aces
- Evansville picked up its second shutout of the season on Saturday night. The Purple Aces kept Northern Illinois from scoring in their first Valley win of the season at Arad McCutchan Stadium. Helping with the shutout were two saves from goalkeeper Jacob Madden and a team block as UE kept the Huskies from putting more than 2 shots on goal.
- When the Aces take a shot through nine games so far this season it's on net over half the time. Evansville as a team has some of the most accurate shots in the nation at 51.3%, good for 12th in the country. UE is one of three Valley teams in the top 15 across the country for shot accuracy.
UIC Flames
- The 25th ranked Flames are likely to climb the national rankings Tuesday after earning their second conference victory over Drake at Flames Field Saturday night in front of a season-high crowd of over 1,000 UIC fans.
- UIC ranks 25th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 2.12 goals per match. The Flames lead the MVC in nearly every offensive category including shots, goals, scoring average, and margin.
MISSOURI STATE Bears
- The No. 9-ranked Missouri State Bears (5-0-1) continued its strong showing in the early parts of the conference season, improving to 2-0 in MVC play thanks to a 1-0 win over the Belmont Bruins on Friday. James Jennings celebrated with a birthday goal to give the Bears its fourth 1-0 victory of the season. The No. 9 ranking marks the sixth time the Bears have been ranked in the Top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll.
- Missouri State continued the trend of outshooting opponents, taking 13 shots to Belmont's five. The Bears are now outshooting their opponents 66-19 this year. Missouri State is one of just three teams in the nation to allow one goal or less, the other two being Bryant and San Diego State. The Bears also hold the third-best winning percentage in the nation, only behind No. 21 San Diego State (6-0-1, .929) and top-ranked Marshall (8-0-0, 1.000).
- The Bears have two road games this week, starting with a break from MVC play against in-state foe Saint Louis (3-3-1, 1-0-1 Atlantic 10). Missouri State will look to defeat the Billikens for the first time ever on Wednesday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. CT. Missouri State will end the week with a conference matchup against the Bradley Braves (4-1-4, 0-1-0 MVC) on Saturday, September 30 at 7:00 p.m. CT.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS Huskies
- NIU goalkeeper Jakub Rojek was credited with eight saves last time out at Evansville (Sept. 23). For the season, Rojek is averaging 4.86 saves per contest which ranks second in the Missouri Valley Conference and 18th nationally.
- With the Huskies on their conference bye this week, NIU’s lone contest is a Tuesday night home game against Loyola Chicago (Sept. 26), the final non-conference home game of the year for the Huskies. Since the beginning of the 2018 season, NIU is 15-4-3 at home against non-conference opponents.
Western michigan Broncos
- With his two goals Tuesday, Dylan Sing tied Brandon Bye (2014-17) for 7th on WMU's all-time scoring list with 22 goals and counting. Sing has 5 goals on the season which is ranked tied for 39th in all NCAA men's soccer this year.