CHICAGO (April 7, 2021) – Coming off a pair of wins last week, the Loyola University Chicago men's soccer team (5-3-2, 4-2-1 MVC) will wrap up its 2021 spring regular season slate on Thursday, April 8 when it hits the road to battle No. 8 Missouri State.  Kickoff from Betty & Bobby Allison South Stadium in Springfield, Mo. is set for 2 p.m.
 
Last Time Out: Loyola raced out of the gate, scoring three times before the half-hour mark, as it cruised to a 3-0 win over Evansville last Sunday at Loyola Soccer Park.  Junior Billy Hency, who was named both the Top Drawer Socer Player of the Week and MVC Offensive Player of the Week, tallied a pair of goal and assisted on fellow junior Fabian Becerra's strike.  The Rambler defensive unit held Evansville without a shot on goal in the win.  For his efforts, redshirt sophomore Michael Hong was tabbed MVC Defensive Player of the Week.
 
vs. Missouri State: Currently ranked eighth in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll, Missouri State enters Thursday's regular season finale a perfect 9-0-0 overall and 7-0-0 in Missouri Valley Conference play.  The Bears, who are coming off a 2-1 win over Central Arkansas this past Saturday, have already secured their second straight MVC regular season title and the top seed for the upcoming conference tournament.  Now in his 28th season as the Bears' bench boss, head coach Jon Leamy's team is led by the trio of Nicolo Mulatero, Aadne Bruseth, and Jesus Barea.  Mulatero, The Valley's overall points leader, has racked up six goals and five assists.  Bruseth, who found the back of the net in Missouri State's win over Central Arkansas, and Barea have each added three goals, with Bruseth shares the MVC lead in assists in Mulatero, having dished out five helpers.  Michael Creek has played in all but 9:58 seconds of game action in goal this spring and sports an MVC-best 0.45 goals against average.
 
Series Stuff: Loyola and Missouri State will meet for the 16th time on Thursday afternoon in the Ozarks, a series in which the Bears lead by an 8-4-3 (.633) margin.  The Ramblers are 1-3-2 (.333) in six previous trips to Springfield, Mo., with the lone win coming back on October 28, 2017, 2-1.  Goals in the second half from Aadne Bruseth and Greg Stratton saw Missouri State past Loyola, 2-0, back on March 26 at Loyola Soccer Park.  After playing a scoreless first half, Bruseth struck for the game's opener in the 48th minute, while Stratton added a second less than four minutes later.  Loyola was held to a season-low three shots in the defeat.
 
Up Next: Loyola will open play in the MVC Championship on Tuesday, April 13 when it battles Drake in a semifinal-round class.  Kickoff time and location are still to be determined.