No. 16 Missouri State soccer couldn’t find the back of the net on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The Bears lost 3-0 to Charlotte in the semifinals of the American Conference Tournament in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Missouri State (12-2-3) was scoreless with the 49ers at halftime. Charlotte was able to put together three impressive goals to send the Bears packing.
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Charlotte opened the scoring with a goal in the 53rd minute. It was followed by a strong spell of play from the Bears and an equalizer looked likely, but Charlotte’s defense cut down on angles and forced errant shots throughout the stretch.
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The 49ers doubled their lead in the 80th minute behind a thumping strike from Michael Raggett for his 12th goal of the year. Charlotte put the game to bed in the 84th minute with a top corner goal from Xavier Halloway.
Missouri State finished with eight shots, four on target. It was the Bears’ first game in 10 days after they received a first-round bye. They defeated Charlotte 4-2 on the road to close the regular season on Nov. 1.
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Missouri State will await news of an NCAA Tournament bid on Monday, Nov. 16. The Bears will be confident they can snag a spot in the postseason tournament after spending most of the season in the top 25 in the national polls. There are 25 at-large bids in the 48-team postseason tournament.
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The Bears currently have an RPI of 23 and have held a top 25 RPI throughout the year.
The American Conference hasn’t sent an at-large bid to the tournament since 2023. The league had three teams qualify for the tournament that year.
The selection show will begin at noon on Monday. The first round of the NCAA Tournament will be played on Thursday, Nov. 19.
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Liam Keating covers high school sports and Missouri State athletics for The Springfield News-Leader. Send stats or information to him at Lkeating@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State soccer eliminated from American tournament, awaits postseason bid
