(Missouri State Sports Information) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Missouri State men’s soccer team (9-7-3) upset the nationally-ranked Loyola Ramblers (13-3-1) at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium in the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Soccer Championship semifinal match on Friday evening. MSU’s Emmerich Hoegg netted his 13th career game-winning goal to send the Bears to the championship match for the third time in five seasons.
Both defenses stood firm in the first half, as Phil Woods took the lone shot for the Bears and the Ramblers only tallied three.
In the 22nd minute of the match, Loyola’s Kevin Engesser netted his second goal of the season to give the Ramblers the early 1-0 lead over the Bears. Engesser’s first goal of the season happened to be the game-winner for the Ramblers in Chicago during the regular season.
Loyola opened the second half with three shots in the first 10 minutes, before MSU could get their feet on the ball. In the 72nd minute of the match, Mikey Lightbourne dribbled the ball down to the near-side end line. Lightbourne sent the ball across the box to a wide-open Jake Buckle, who fired to the back right post. The sophomore’s equalizer is his second goal of the postseason and third in 2016.
Following Buckle’s goal, the Bears maintained possession for a majority of the final 18 minutes of regulation, but were unable to seal the deal, sending the match into overtime.
In the 96th minute of the match, MSU set up to take a corner kick. James Routledge sent the ball into the middle of the box, finding the top of Hoegg’s head. The senior’s header slid past the MVC Goalkeeper of the Year, Andrew Chekadanov, to send the Bears to the MVC championship match for the third time in five seasons. Hoegg’s game-winning goal is the 13th of his career, as he is now the lone leader in the category in MSU program history. The all-conference first team selection also leads the Bears’ squad with five goals on the season.
The last time Missouri State topped a ranked opponent was at the New Mexico Tournament in 2015, when Buckle’s brace helped the Bears overcome the No. 18 Loyola Marymount Lions.
Sunday’s championship match-up between the No. 5-seeded host Missouri State Bears and the No. 2-seeded SIU Edwardsville Cougars is set to take place at Allison South Stadium at 1 p.m. The 2016 championship game will be a rematch of the 2014 title match between the two clubs, where the Cougars advanced to the NCAA Tournament after securing the 1-0 victory in overtime.
