Missouri State Bears soccer

Missouri State Bears men's soccer
Founded	1981 (1981)
University	Missouri State University
Head coach	Michael Seabolt
Conference	Missouri Valley
Location	Springfield, Missouri
Stadium	Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium (Capacity: 1,000)
Nickname	Bears
Colors	Maroon and white
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2020
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2019, 2020, 2024
NCAA Tournament appearances
1997, 1999, 2009, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024
Conference Tournament championships
1999, 2020, 2021, 2022
Conference Regular Season championships
1997, 1999, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021

The Missouri State Bears men's soccer team represent Missouri State University in NCAA Division I men's soccer. They compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The team plays its home matches at Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium. They are currently coached by Jon Leamy who is entering his 29th season as head coach. Missouri State has made 4 NCAA Tournament appearances, most recently in 2019. Their overall record in the NCAA Tournament is 1–4. They have won 8 conference regular season titles and one conference tournament. Missouri State has had 8 players selected in the MLS Draft.

History

Conference memberships

For the first seven years of the programs existence they were an independent. They switched their conference affiliation for a year in 1989 to the Association of Mid-Continent Universities (Summit League). They switched back to being an independent for the 1990 season. Since 1991 the team has been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. Prior to 2005, Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State.

• 1981-1988: Independent
• 1989: Association of Mid-Continent Universities†
• 1990: Independent
• 1991–present: Missouri Valley Conference†

†Founding member of the conference

Roster

As of January 7, 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ENG	Harry Townsend
3	DF	ITA	Giacomo Sala
4	DF	ENG	Lewis Green
5	DF	ENG	Michael Peck
6	MF	ITA	Lorenzo Dentale
8	MF	ENG	Kian Yari
9	FW	ESP	Jesus Barea
10	FW	ITA	Nicolo Mulatero
11	FW	ESP	Jon Koka

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
12	DF	NZL	Matt Jones
13	DF	USA	Elijah Zelkind
15	MF	ENG	Alex Matthews
16	DF	ENG	Sam Ottley
17	MF	NOR	Daniel Normann
18	FW	ENG	Ollie Bate
20	FW	NOR	Simon Bakken
21	FW	IRL	James Jennings
22	FW	ESP	Pablo Guillen
25	DF	ITA	Gianluca Fiorini
26	MF	ITA	Pascal Corvino
28	MF	ENG	Charlie Bell
—	GK	USA	Jonathan Kliewer
—	GK	ITA	Lorenzo Rovei
—	DF	USA	Blake Bastian
—	DF	GER	Mattis Koch
—	DF	ITA	Mattia Petricca
—	DF	SWE	Daniel Shabani
—	MF	ENG	Declan O'Hare
—	MF	SCO	Tyler Caton
—	MF	ENG	Joseph Ling
—	MF	NZL	Max Falconer
—	MF	USA	Alan Rivera
—	FW	ITA	Marco Gueli

Facilities

Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium

Missouri State plays their home matches at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium. The on-campus, 1,500-seat stadium was built in the summer of 2014. The stadium has a combination of bleacher and chair-back seating. The stadium features a Sport Turf artificial turf playing surface. The stadium has locker rooms for both men's and women's soccer programs. It also has a press box and Daktronics LED premier video board.

Championships

Conference championships

Regular season

Missouri State has won 9 regular season conference championships in the team's history. They won back-to-back championships twice, in 2013–2014 and 2019–2020. In 2019 the Bears finished the regular season undefeated in both conference and non-conference play. Jon Leamy has coached the team to all of their championships.

Season	Conference	Coach	Overall Record	Conference Record
1997	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	13-5-3	6–0–1
1999	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	17-1-3	6–0-1
2009	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	12-5–2	7-1–1
2011†	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	9-8-2	5-1-0
2013	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	11-5–2	5-1–0
2014	Missouri valley	Jon Leamy	9-5–4	4–0-2
2017	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	9-5-3	5-2-1
2019	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	18–1-1	10–0-0
2020	Missouri Valley	Jon Leamy	12-2-0	7-1-0
Total Conference Championships:			9
† Denotes co-champions

NCAA tournament history

Missouri State has appeared in 4 NCAA Tournaments and has an overall record of 1–4. Missouri State won their first tournament game 2019 at home against Denver 1–0. This was the first time the program hosted a tournament game. Prior to 2005 Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State where they made 2 appearances in 1997 and 1999. Jon Leamy has coached the Bears in all of their tournament appearances.

Season	Coach	Round	Host	Opponent	Result
1997	Jon Leamy	First round	Saint Louis	Saint Louis	L 2-1
1999	Jon Leamy	First round	UAB	UAB	L 2-1
2009	Jon Leamy	First round	Saint Louis	Saint Louis	L 2-1
2019	Jon Leamy	First round Round of 32	Missouri State Central Florida	Denver Central Florida	W 1-0 L 2-1 (OT)

Last updated: August 21, 2020.
Source: NCAA Soccer

Yearly results

Missouri State's first season was in 1981 where they went 4-6-1 under head coach Frank Dinka. From the inaugural season in 1981 to the end of the 2004 season Missouri State was known as Southwest Missouri State. The school changed their name to Missouri State in 2005 and since then has been known as Missouri State. The Bears were an independent until 1988 when they joined what is now the Summit League for a year. After a lone season as an independent again, Missouri State joined the Missouri Valley Conference. They have been a member of the MVC ever since. They made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1997 when they lost to Saint Louis University in the first round 2–1. The Bears have appeared 3 more times since then, most recently in 2019 where they reached the round of 32. 2019 was also Missouri State's most successful season as they went 18-1-1 and went an undefeated 10-0-0 in conference play and 16-0-0 during the regular season.

Statistics overview

Season	Coach	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Southwest Missouri State Bears (Independent) (1981–1988)
1981	Frank Dinka	4–6–1
1982	Frank Dinka	5–10–2
1983	Frank Dinka	3–12–1
1984	Frank Dinka	6–11–0
1985	Frank Dinka	7–10–2
1986	Frank Dinka	8–11–0
1987	Jan Stahle	9–10–1
1988	Jan Stahle	9–12–1
Southwest Missouri State Bears (AMCU) (1989–only)
1989	Jan Stahle	14–8–3	3–3–0	4th
Southwest Missouri State Bears (Independent) (1990–only)
1990	Tom Howe	8–8–1
Southwest Missouri State Bears (Missouri Valley Conference) (1991–2004)
1991	Tom Howe	9–10–0	1–2–0	t-4th
1992	Jon Leamy	4–15–0	0–5–0	6th
1993	Jon Leamy	9–9–0	1–4–0	5th
1994	Jon Leamy	12–5–1	1–4–1	6th
1995	Jon Leamy	14–5–0	2–3–0	4th
1996	Jon Leamy	12–6–0	3–2–0	3rd
1997	Jon Leamy	13–5–3	6–0–1	1st	NCAA 1st round
1998	Jon Leamy	13–7–1	3–3–1	t-4th
1999	Jon Leamy	17–1–3	5–0–2	1st	NCAA 1st round
2000	Jon Leamy	10–7–2	4–5–2	8th
2001	Jon Leamy	10–9–1	7–2–0	2nd
2002	Jon Leamy	9–11–0	6–3–0	3rd
2003	Jon Leamy	9–7–3	3–5–1	8th
2004	Jon Leamy	11–6–2	4–4–1	t-5th
Missouri State Bears (Missouri Valley Conference) (2005–present)
2005	Jon Leamy	12–4–2	4–3–0	5th
2006	Jon Leamy	8–8–3	3–2–1	3rd
2007	Jon Leamy	6–10–4	1–3–2	6th
2008	Jon Leamy	7–10–5	3–1–1	3rd
2009	Jon Leamy	12–5–2	7–1–1	1st	NCAA 1st round
2010	Jon Leamy	8–7–3	4–1–2	t-2nd
2011	Jon Leamy	9–8–2	5–1–0	t-1st
2012	Jon Leamy	5–8–4	0–6–0	7th
2013	Jon Leamy	11–5–2	5–1–0	1st
2014	Jon Leamy	9–5–4	4–0–2	1st
2015	Jon Leamy	6–6–5	3–2–1	4th of 7
2016	Jon Leamy	9–8–2	3–4–1	5th of 7
2017	Jon Leamy	9–5–3	5–2–1	1st
2018	Jon Leamy	9–2–6	2–2–2	4th of 7
2019	Jon Leamy	18–1–1	10–0–0	1st	NCAA Round of 32
2020–21	Jon Leamy	12–2–0	7–1–0	1st	NCAA Round of 16
MVC:		277–249–55	102–64–19
Total:		350–348–63
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

MLS Draft History

Missouri State has had several alumni drafted by Major League Soccer clubs in the various MLS drafts.

MLS College Draft

Missouri State has had 1 player drafted in the MLS College Draft. Matt Caution was drafted in the third round of the 1998 Draft by the Dallas Burn.

Player	Position	Year	Draft Round	Team
Matt Caution	FW	1998	3	Dallas Burn

_{Note: The MLS College Draft was held from 1996 to 1999.}

Last updated: August 21, 2020.
Source: Soccer America

MLS Supplemental Draft

Missouri State has had 2 players drafted in the MLS Supplemental Draft. Doug Lascody was drafted in the third round of the 2005 Draft by the Kansas City Wizards. Justin Douglass was drafted in the fourth round of the 2007 Draft by the Houston Dynamo.

Player	Position	Year	Draft Round	Team
Doug Lascody	MF	2005	3	Kansas City Wizards
Justin Douglass	DF	2007	4	Houston Dynamo

_{Note: The MLS Supplemental Draft has been held off and on since 1996. The last draft to have taken place was in 2013.}

Last updated: August 21, 2020.
Source: Major League Soccer

Source: Major League Soccer

MLS SuperDraft

Missouri State has had 4 players drafted in the MLS SuperDraft. Chris Brunt was drafted in the third round of the 2002 draft by the Kansas City Wizards. Missouri State had two players selected in the 2004 Draft;Matt Pickens in the second round with the Chicago Fire and Jamal Sutton in the fourth round with the Columbus Crew. Matthew Bentley was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 draft by Minnesota United F.C.

Player	Position	Year	Draft Round	Team
Chris Brunt	DF	2002	3	Kansas City Wizards
Matt Pickens	GK	2004	2	Chicago Fire
Jamal Sutton	FW	2004	4	Columbus Crew
Matthew Bentley	FW	2020	4	Minnesota United F.C.

Last updated: August 21, 2020.
Source: Major League Soccer

External links

• Official website