DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's soccer team closes the regular season against Missouri State on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Cownie Soccer Complex.
 
It is a critical Missouri Valley Conference match for Drake (5-10-1, 2-4-1 MVC) as it battles for seeding to next week's MVC Tournament hosted by Bradley in Peoria, Ill. The Bulldogs can finish as high as the No. 5 seed and as low as the No. 7 seed with multiple scenarios in play. If Drake secures the No. 5 seed it will play Wednesday at 3 p.m. If the Bulldogs are the No. 6 or No. 7 seed they will be in the play-in game on Tuesday at noon.
 
Drake edged Evansville, 1-0, in its last match in Evansville, Ind. on Saturday. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Alex Peterson (St. Cloud, Minn.) scored his first career goal and redshirt freshman goalkeeper Caden McCullough (Evansville, Ind.) recorded his first MVC shutout win in his hometown. For his efforts, McCullough, who made a critical save of a late Purple Aces' penalty kick, was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week this week.
 
Missouri State (9-4-1, 5-2-0 MVC), the No. 1 seed for the tournament, secured a share of the league title and the top seed with Central Arkansas' loss to Bradley on October 28.  MSU can earn an outright MVC title with a win or draw over the Bulldogs. The Bears received a bye to the tournament's semifinals and will play Friday, Nov. 10 at 3 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's 3 p.m. match. Drake edged Missouri State, 2-1, in the first meeting of the teams on Oct. 14 in Springfield, Mo.
Following Saturday's match, Drake travels to the MVC Tournament, Nov. 7-8-10-12 in Peoria. The winner of the tournament earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.