Springfield, Mo. – The Central Arkansas men's soccer team took to the pitch for the final match of the regular season on Saturday night, taking on the Missouri State Bears. UCA found itself in a 3-0 hole at the half and was unable to climb out, falling to the maroon Bears 3-0.

Missouri State (6-5-5, 3-2-1 MVC) opened the match's scoring in the 25^th minute. Brandon Barbero fired and Central Arkansas (2-14-1, 1-5-0 MVC) keeper Harrison Veith made the save but was unable to control the ball, which fell to James Thomas. Thomas fired from eight yards out to put the maroon Bears up 1-0.

MSU added to its lead in the 33^rd minute, as Phil Woods lofted a corner into the box, where Conor Ingram headed it just inside the back post.

The maroon Bears added another insurance goal in the 43^rd minute, when James Routledge intercepted a pass from Veith and fed it to Scott Midgely who slotted it in just inside the back left post to make it 3-0 in favor of Missouri State.

"Tonight, we hurt ourselves with our play in the first half," said UCA head coach Ross Duncan. We knew they would press us and we played beyond that without and trouble to start. The problem was that when the game settled down, we didn't put our stamp on it like we have been in the last couple of weeks. We need to demand much better from ourselves."

Central Arkansas settled in the second half, keeping Missouri State off the board, but was unable to find any goals of its own.

"We came out in the second half and played with confidence, but we had given them too much and couldn't climb back in," said Duncan. "Next week we have to impress our style upon our opponents in the first half. When we do that, we can be great."

On the day, the Bears fired off just two shots, getting a shot on goal from freshman Joey Kampmann and a header from fellow freshman Daltyn Knutson. In goal, Veith made five saves.

The Bears return to action next Wednesday in the opening round of the Missouri Valley Conference Soccer Championship, which is hosted by SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois. The Bears earned the sixth seed in the tournament and will face off against third-seeded Drake in the opening match at 3:00 PM.