Friday, October 30, 2020

MSSU soccer to play exhibition matches at Missouri State


(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

The Missouri Southern soccer program will play a pair of exhibition games tonight and Sunday at Missouri State University.

Southern and the Bears will kickoff tonight at 7 pm tonight and will play at 2 pm on Sunday from Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium in Springfield.

The games will be part of what will be considered the Lions' normal spring season as Southern and the MIAA will hope to play some of their championship season in the Spring.








Southern returns 12 players from a season ago and the roster, including four seniors, as well as a fifth in transfer Serena Schwartz (South Carolina State). Rylie Johnson, Bailey Hunsicker, Carina Calderon and Meredith Belrose are the other four seniors on this year's team.

Six starters return from last year's squad including Johnson, Belrose, Calderon, Bailey Belcher, Riley Laver and Cameron Walton. Belcher is the Lions' returning leading scorer as the junior led the team with 27 shots on goal (50 total), scoring three times with one assist for seven points on the year. Laver started in 12 of the 13 games she played in last year, leading the team with nearly 1,100 minutes between the pipes and a 2.47 goals against average. She made 75 saves a season ago.

"This fall is a great opportunity for our team to get together and compete against a top level team from the Missouri Valley Conference," said head coach Aaron Tilsen. "The spirit and energy that a few games has brought to the team is something special and we will not waste the opportunity to improve and gain some experience. We have 13 freshman on our roster and they will get a chance to grow and prove themselves next week. I know it will be a tough test for us as we have not played a game in over 11 months, since November 3, 2019. The team will look to learn grow and improvement from this opportunity and I am thankful that our university see's the value in supporting our athletic team in these unprecedented times."

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