RECENT NEWS

Bears finish season in Denver

May 15, 2009

Tuesday morning marked the first time the Bears had ever played a national playoff game. Coming into the game, Missouri State was confident about their match-up between them and the defending national champs Westminster. The game started off well, with MoState netting quick goals to go up 2-0 minutes into the first quarter. The Bears were able to continue running their style of play and saw a half time score of 4-2 in their favor.

Led by a very experienced coaching staff, Westminster was able to come out strong in the third quarter outscoring the Bears 5-1. And with a hard fought fourth quarter, Missouri State conceded a close game to Westminster 8-7. Missouri State was disappointed to lose, but pleased with the final score which proved they could play with the best in the league.

With an early first round lose, Missouri State played Cal State Fullerton in what was a consolation game in name only. In what has proven to be a strength this season, the Bears came out quick and scored 2 goals to go up 2-0. As the Bears got their legs under them they continued to roll and ended the game with an 11-7 win. Missouri State held off one of the most powerful offenses in the west with a very aggressive defense.

Missouri State ends its season 13-3 under first year Head Coach Austin Holman and Assistant Coach Pat Callaham.

Bears win, lock playoff spot

Apr 4, 2009

This weekend Missouri State traveled to St. Louis for what would prove to be more of a set of home games away from home. Friday night the Bears of MoState took on the Bears of Washington University-StL. The last time these two teams faced each other was in 2006, and WashU took home the crushing win, beating Missouri State 16-3. This meeting held different results.

With something that has proved to be a trend with Missouri State this year, they put up the first goal, and never looked back. By half-time the score was 5-1 Missouri State. Coming out of half-time, MoState was on fire putting up 5 in the third quarter compared to 2 from WashU. The final count was 12-5 in favor of Missouri State. Freshman Dave Herber (#24) and Junior Captain Nick King (#14) both had 4 goals in the contest. Missouri State improved to 2-0 in conference with the win.

On Saturday, Missouri State took on the Spartans of Missouri Baptist in what was a homecoming for 3 Bears players. The game was played at CBC High School in St. Louis, a stadium where 3 Bears players played their home games on route to a state championship in 2007. The 2nd Annual "Battle of Mo" was sure to be a good game as last year's meeting between the 2 teams ended a cold rainy night in Springfield with a 8-7 2OT win for MoState. Missouri Baptist was looking to avenge the loss and secure a spot in the conference tournament in May. Again Missouri State scored first, only seconds into the game, and went on to lead at half-time 5-0. The game was hard fought on both sides but the Bears were too much for MoBap as they went on to win the contest 12-4. Missouri State secured a first round bye in conference playoffs with the win. Senior Captain Brad Shearman (#39) had an outstanding day putting up 4 assists and 3 goals.

Missouri State improves to 7-1 (3-0) on the season, finishing out conference play undefeated. Led by an aggressive defense, Missouri State has outscored opponents 54-13 in the first half this year. Senior Captain and first year Goalie Mark Livesay (#6) had a .800 save percent on the weekend is up to .727 on the year and is allowing 4.8 Goals Against per game.

Missouri State will play their final home game of the season Friday, April 17th and will take on the Tigers of Missouri, Sunday the 19th.

Bears destroy SLU

Feb 27, 2009

In what was said to be the "Preview of the GRLC Championship Game," St. Louis University and Missouri State were ready to fight it out and see who would be left standing and who would be left with the bloody lip. Only minutes into the game and after defensive breakdowns, Missouri State was down 2-0 and was wondering what had happened. After a time out and some "words of encouragement" from the coaching staff, the Bears came out with a new attitude and tied the game up, ending the first quarter 2-2. After trading goals in the second quarter the score was now 3-3, however the Bears had found their touch and would end up out scoring SLU 9-1 in the remainder of the game. The final score was 12-4 Missouri State.

A tenacious defense only allowed 9 shots on goal for the night and kept SLU (who averaged nearly 20 points a game last season) to only 4 goals. The Bears defense is allowing 5 goals a game on the year. The offense of the Bears held up their end of the deal and put up 12 on what was said to be one of the best defenses in the conference. Game leaders were Dave Herber (4g), Nick King (2g 2a), Mark Jasper (2g 2a) and Brad Shearman (3g 1a). Missouri State Improves to 5-1 on the year.

Bears down Harding, Creighton

Feb 22, 2009

In their home opener, The Bears took on last year's conference champions Harding University. In front of a rowdy home crowd, the Bears didn't take long to get going as Scott Baker netted one in front of the cage, minutes into the game. The Bears were ready to pour it on, and by halftime the score was 7-0. Missouri State was ready to destroy the conference champions from last year and by the end of the game, the count was 13-4 Missouri State. Game leaders were Dave Herber (3g 1a), Brad Shearman (3g) and Nick King (2g 1a).

Two days later, the Bears took on the Jays of Creighton University, marking the first time the two teams had ever met. Off of a face off infraction, the Bears gained opening possession and the first goal when Dave Herber caught the "alley-oop" pass from Mark Jasper and put Missouri State in front 1-0. The Bears outscored Creighton 4-1 in the first quarter and would prove to be too much for the Jays, handing them their first loss of the year. The final score was 13-7. Leaders on the day were Dave Herber (5g), Brad Shearman (2g 2a) and Mark Jasper (1g 4a).

Bears Complete First Games In '09

Feb 16, 2009

For the first few games of the 2009 season, Missouri State traveled to Georgetown, Texas to play some of the Lone Star Alliance Conference's best. After some last minute schedule changes, Missouri State was able to keep their 3 game schedule in line and make the 10 hour drive down south.

On Saturday the Bears played their first game against Stephen F. Austin. After a quick goal from a fast break situation, Missouri State took the lead and never looked back. The Bears were able to run their offense effectively and ended the game 25-2.

Immediately following, the Bears would play the Hilltoppers of St. Edwards University. The quick tempo of St. Eds gave the Bears trouble at first, but with a timeout and a couple man-up opportunities, the Bears were able to gain the lead and secure the second victory of the year.

After two games on Saturday, Missouri State came ready to finish off all three games and get their third win of the trip over top-10 ranked Southwestern University. With the exception of a botched clear in front of the cage, the Bears took control of the first quarter, got quality shots, and went into the second quarter leading 4-1.

The second quarter was all Southwestern. With many man up opportunities, the Bucs outscored the Bears 3-0. At half time the score was all knotted up at 4. The second half was not much better than the second quarter for Missouri State, giving up an additional 7 goals and only netting 3. The Bears fought hard but could not come back and lost 11-7.

Junior Attackmen Nick King lead the Bears with 2 goals and 2 assists, and Senior Midfielder Brad Shearman had an additional goal and 2 assists. Goalie Mark Livesay allowed 11 and saved 22, giving him a 67% save percentage on the day.

The Bears come home for a 4 game home stand playing Harding on Friday night and Creighton on Sunday. Friday night's game will be a Black Out and all fans are encouraged to wear black.