The Indiana State women's soccer team plays their final regular season game of the 2012 season on Thursday, traveling to Springfield, Mo., for a Missouri Valley Conference matchup against the Missouri State Bears. Kickoff is set for 8:00 p.m. (ET), 7:00 p.m. locally from Plaster Field in a key conference game for both sides.

Indiana State enters the match with a 6-9-2 record on the season and a 1-3-1 mark in MVC play, as the Sycamores sit in sixth place in the league standings. ISU earned a scoreless draw against Drake on Senior Day last Sunday, a result that kept the Sycamores within striking distance of making the conference tournament.

Missouri State heads into Thursday's match at 8-7-2 on the season, sitting in a tie for fourth place in the league standings at 2-2-1. The Bears saw their two-game winning streak within the conference come to an end at Illinois State last Sunday, falling 1-0 to the Redbirds.

The Sycamores need a victory over the Bears on Thursday to earn a slot in the tournament, as the win would move Indiana State onto seven points with Missouri State and give ISU the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Bears.

A win over Missouri State would be Indiana State's first road MVC win since 2009, when the Sycamores defeated UNI, 2-1. The Sycamores have dropped nine straight league road games since 2009 and hold an 8-31-0 all-time road record in conference play.

In Case You Missed It... Highlights and Postgame Comments vs. Drake



A Little History - Missouri State
Thursday's match will be the 13th meeting between Indiana State and Missouri State, with the Bears holding an 8-3-1 advantage in the series. Missouri State has won two straight in the series, both by 1-0 scores in 2010 and 2011. Both goals came just before the end of a period, as the Bears won last season in Terre Haute behind a goal by Michelle Sommer with 49 seconds remaining in the first half after winning at home in 2010 on a goal by Grace Cross with just six seconds left in the second half. The Sycamores are 2-3-0 all-time in Springfield, winning in back-to-back trips in 2004 and 2006. In 10 of the 12 previous meetings, one team has been shut out -- Indiana State eight times, Missouri State twice.

Scouting The Bears
Missouri State carries an 8-7-2 overall record and a 2-2-1 mark in Missouri Valley Conference play into Thursday's match, as the Bears are the tied with Northern Iowa for fourth place in the league standings. The Bears have been very good at home this season, going 5-1-2 at Plaster Field, with their lone loss coming against North Texas on Aug. 19 (L, 0-1). Junior Rachel Weimer leads Missouri State with 14 points (six goals, two assists) this season, good for the fourth-best total in the conference. Senior Chelsea Voet has played every minute in goal, making 71 saves with seven shutouts and a 1.08 goals against average.

Game-by-Game - Missouri State
Below is a quick look at the all-time series between Indiana State and Missouri State.

Oct. 15, 2000 at Indiana State - L, 0-4                     Oct. 6, 2006 at Missouri State - W, 2-1
Oct. 12, 2001 at Indiana State - L, 0-2                     Oct. 28, 2007 at Indiana State - W, 2-0
Oct. 11, 2002 at Missouri State - L, 0-1                    Oct. 31, 2008 at Missouri State - L, 0-4
Oct. 24, 2003 at Indiana State - L, 0-2                     Oct. 23, 2009 at Indiana State - T, 1-1
Oct. 16, 2004 at Missouri State - W, 1-0                   Oct. 1, 2010 at Missouri State - L, 0-1
Sept. 30, 2005 at Indiana State - L, 0-1 (2OT)          Sept. 23, 2011 at Indiana State - L, 0-1

Last Season Against Missouri State
Missouri State earned a 1-0 victory in Terre Haute on Sept. 23, as Michelle Sommer headed in a cross late in the first half for the game's only goal. The Bears took advantage of their final chance of the half, as Sommer scored with just 49 seconds remaining before the break. Indiana State led 12-9 in shots, 7-3 in shots on goal and 7-3 in corner kicks for the match.

MVC Tournament Scenario
Indiana State sits in sixth place in the conference standings heading into their match at Missouri State, but the Sycamores must win in order to get into the conference tournament. Although Creighton is locked into seventh place in the league standings, the Bluejays will claim the sixth and final spot in the tournament since they are the tournament hosts and eliminate the team that finishes in sixth place during the regular season.

Leading All Newcomers
Freshman Sydney Lovelace leads all freshmen in the MVC this season with 47 shots, an average of 2.76 shots per game. Overall, the Franklin, Ohio, and Franklin High School product, ranks fourth in shots and fourth in shots per game across the league.

Between The Posts
Freshman Erin Mitchell has tallied five shutouts in goal for Indiana State this season, tying for the best single-season total in school history with Emily Lahay (2010) and Carey Patton (2003). Mitchell's five clean sheets rank the freshman in a tie for third place in the league behind conference leaders Chelsea Voet of Missouri State and Kalena Litch of Drake, who each have posted seven shutouts in 2012.

Doubling Up
Indiana State is 5-1 this season when scoring multiple goals, topping SIU Edwardsville (W, 2-0), Eastern Illinois (W, 2-1), IUPUI (W, 2-1), Green Bay (W, 3-0) and Creighton (W, 3-1) while falling to Illinois State (L, 2-9). Since the start of Indiana State's women's soccer program in 2000, the Sycamores are 65-11-4 (.838) when scoring at least two goals in a match.

Scoring First
Indiana State is 5-1 this season when scoring the first goal in a match, compared to a 1-8 mark when their opponent's net the game's opening goal. The Sycamores have earned wins over SIU Edwardsville (2-0), Eastern Illinois (1-0), IUPUI (2-1), Green Bay (3-0) and Creighton (3-1) this season when scoring first with their lone loss coming at Illinois State. ISU's single win this season when scoring second came against Murray State on Sept. 2, as the Sycamores scored twice in the second half to pick up a 2-1 victory over the Racers.

No Rest
Senior Kourtney Vassar has been a mainstay for Indiana State on defense this season, playing 14 complete games and leading the team with 1,504 minutes played (out of a possible 1,560). Vassar has totaled 5,719 minutes played in her four years at ISU, good for third in school history behind Morgan Wendlandt (6,094 - 2008-11) and Alyssa Ramsey (6,043 - 2005-08).

Fire Away
Freshman Sydney Lovelace leads the team with 47 shots this season, ranking the freshman in a tie for the seventh-best single-season total in school history. Below is a quick look at the top single-season totals for shot attempts at Indiana State.

1. Nichole Tiggs (2004) - 64                                   T5. Alison Gasparovich (2010) - 49
2. Lauren Podolski (2006) - 60                                T7. Sydney Lovelace (2012) - 47
3. Lauren Podolski (2004) - 54                                T7. Jamie Brinck (2001) - 47
4. Callie McDonough (2004) - 50                             T7. Claire Hemkens (2002) - 47
T5. Claire Hemkens (2003) - 49                              T7. Rachel Hasser (2003) - 47

Just Four
Senior Kourtney Vassar, junior Taylor Reed and freshmen Sydney Lovelace and Erin Mitchell are the only members of the team to start all 17 matches this season. Vassar, Reed and Lovelace have combined for six goals and three assists in a combined 4,242 minutes while Mitchell has posted five shutouts and 61 saves in goal.

Last 10 On The Road
Below is a quick look at the last 10 road games and neutral site contests for Indiana State.

Oct. 17, 2012 at Evansville - L, 0-3                          Sept. 9, 2012 vs. Sacramento State - T, 0-0
Oct. 14, 2012 at Illinois State - L, 2-9                      Sept. 7, 2012 vs. Montana - L, 0-1
Sept. 30, 2012 at Green Bay - W, 3-0                      Aug. 24, 2012 at Butler - L, 0-3
Sept. 14, 2012 at IUPUI - W, 2-1                             Oct. 22, 2011 at Creighton - L, 0-1
Sept. 12, 2012 at Indiana - L, 1-3                            Oct. 9, 2011 at UNI -- L, 0-2

Tied For The Team Lead
Juniors Taylor Reed and Shelby Troyer, sophomore Aubrie Musselman and freshman Sydney Lovelace are all tied for the team lead in goals this season, each netting three. The last time that ISU had at least four Sycamores with three goals in a season was back in 2009 when Katlin Owens (six), Erin Bianchi (four), senior Casey Allbright (three), Seyma Erenli (three) and Alison Gasparovich (three) all tallied at least three goals.

First Victory Over Creighton
The Sycamores picked up their first victory over Creighton in program history on Friday, Oct. 5, defeating the Bluejays by a 3-1 score at Memorial Stadium. Sophomore Aubrie Musselman (eighth minute) and juniors Shelby Troyer (37th minute) and Taylor Reed (84th minute) all netted goals for ISU. In their previous 14 meetings with Creighton, Indiana State had scored just six goals before their three-goal effort on Friday.

On To The Next One...
The 2012 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament begins on Sunday, Oct. 28, as the third and fourth seeds host the fifth and sixth seeds, respectively, at their campus sites. A win over Missouri State would move Indiana State into the fifth seed, sending the Sycamores to either Northern Iowa or Illinois State after play is completed on Thursday evening.