The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) tournament concludes tomorrow with a championship match between Bowling Green and Evansville.
Both teams advanced to the finals with 1-0 wins in their semifinals matches, knocking out the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, Missouri State and Drake.
Terry goal lifts No. 3 Bowling Green over No. 2 Drake:
Bowling Green took on Drake on Wednesday, looking to advance to the championship round.
The two sides last faced off on Oct. 12, when they battled to a scoreless draw.
Wednesday’s match remained scoreless as well, until the final eight minutes when junior forward Trace Terry slipped the ball past Drake’s goalkeeper, giving the Falcons the lead.
This marked Terry’s 12th goal of the season and fifth game-winning goal.
No. 5 Evansville becomes first MVC team to defeat No. 1 Missouri State:
Evansville faced nationally ranked and one-seeded Missouri State on Wednesday, searching for a spot in the tournament finals.
The two sides had met previously on Nov. 1, when the Bears crushed the Aces 6-1.
Although MoState outshot Evansville 11-3, the Aces were the only team able to capitalize.
Early in the second half, redshirt freshman midfielder Jacopo Fedrizzi sent the ball into the box, reaching the head of junior defender Nacho Garcia.
Garcia headed the ball over Missouri’s goalkeeper for his first career goal, securing the victory for the Aces. Fedrizzi picked up his fifth season assist with the goal.
No. 3 Bowling Green vs. No. 5 Evansville:
Bowling Green and Evansville kick off in Missouri on Saturday at 7:30 pm ET. The winner of the match will be named Missouri Valley Conference champion and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The last time the two teams competed was on Oct. 5, with Evansville winning 1-0.
Multiple Falcons earned conference awards this past week, notably senior defender Kyle Cusimano earning Defender of the Year honors.
Terry and senior midfielder Alberto Anaya were named to the MVC first-team, while graduate goalkeeper Brendan Graves and sophomore forward Bennett Painter were named to the MVC second-team.
Evansville saw no first-team recognition, but Fedrizzi and senior forward Nacho Diaz Barragan were awarded second-team honors. Freshman goalkeeper Michal Mroz made an appearance on the all-freshman team as well.
Terry and Painter rank second and third in the MVC in total goals, with 13 and 12 respectively, also ranking in the top 20 nationally. Diaz Barragan is Evansville’s top goal-scorer, with eight this season.
Saturday’s competition will be streamed on ESPN+.
