IN THIS EDITION....
BOLT'S BRIEF
Hello Bears!
As you know, we treat the Spring season as our "pre-season" @MSUBearsMSoccer, and 2023 has been no different.
The players, coaches, strength and conditioning staff, athletic trainers, and all others associated with the program have been working tirelessly to make 2023 the best year yet!
We welcomed new student-athletes and new staff this Spring and focused on maintaining a growth mindset. Everyone has been working hard to improve every day and build on our culture of excellence.
This Spring also saw the introduction and the test run for a more competitive Spring league including Tulsa, Oral Roberts, Central Arkansas and Missouri State. Our boys managed to go undefeated and win this Spring league with two wins at home and a draw at Tulsa! Next season the aim is to possibly expand this league and have a finals weekend in Kansas City - stay tuned for updates on this.
We played double header contests throughout the Spring campaign on all of our dates. This allowed the full squad playing time and the opportunity to develop and show their potential. Ultimately we played 10 challenging contests during our 5 allowable NCAA dates. We managed to go undefeated across all games with a 7-0-3 record. Great work from everyone involved!
We continue to watch with unbelievable pride as our bears flourish at the next level. A special shoutout to Kyle Hiebert for earning a Canadian national team call up and playing for his country. This is the culmination of years of dedication and hard work and we are all so happy for him at MSU! "It Takes What It Takes", and Kyle never stops doing "it" in the pursuit of excellence.
We have spoken to our players a bunch this Spring that our 'professional bears' are professional in areas outside of sport. Alumni weekend was an amazing reminder that we have so many awesome professionals across many top industries throughout the world. You are all pro bears and we are incredibly proud of the work you are all doing.
New year with the same goals on the recruitment front! We are continuing to develop and recruit our own (those already in the squad) to be the best version of themselves they can possibly be. Retention is more important than ever in the current landscape. This includes traveling to watch our own players play in the USL2 Summer league when possible to monitor their progress for the Fall season. All the returning guys will be working hard this summer and the coaches will stay in touch with them to look after their welfare.
Recruiting also includes an immense amount of travel searching for the best talent available. As mentioned in our last edition; transfers, gap year players, and older college players have become more important in the modern college game. We have added student-athletes for the Fall season that we are extremely excited about. Watch out for player releases later this Summer! We are also prioritizing domestic recruitment this Summer and sending multiple coaches to top domestic events. The staff are working very hard to find the best Bears out there!
Education remains a focal point of the program and the team have been exceptional in the classroom this Spring. The team completed the Spring semester with an amazing 3.53 GPA tying for top among all MSU men's teams! That means roughly a 3.575 average for the year. It is so amazing to see more young men graduate this Spring and move onto the next phases of their lives. Read up on Lewis Green, Matt Jones, Lorenzo Dentale, and Vincent Zingel in our dedicated graduates section. We are very proud of them all!
A special thank you for all of you that supported our "Givings Day" efforts this Spring and made it a great fundraising campaign. We are so fortunate and grateful for the support and gifts we receive. We simply could not function at an elite level without each and every one of you. Thank you.
Also a huge shoutout to our guy Nick Heun! We are grateful for the support and inspired by your positivity toward everything and everyone. Thank you Nick.
Let’s Go Bears!
Michael Seabolt.
ALUMNI WEEKEND REVIEW
Alumni weekend is a wonderful reminder that being a Bear is a special thing. We are all forever connected and willing to help each other on our life journeys. I (Danny Frid) have personally been blessed with the help alumni have offered my family and I as we searched for the best neighborhoods, schools, and all things Springfield! Unbelievably helpful.
It is amazing to see all the cool things our alumni have achieved and the various pathways they have taken in their lives.
These full circle moments of current players watching our alumni struggle to run around the field are memories that we will cherish forever.
These old men have become doctors, fathers, models, salesman, and everything in between.
There is a rumor that the video was recording for the alumni game and Heath is on the search for the footage after a hat-trick in 15 minutes....
Your profession does not have to be soccer to be a "pro bear."
Having an inter-squad scrimmage before the game was a fantastic opportunity for our alumni to see all our bears in action.
With a fast moving college market we have a number of new faces this Spring so it was awesome for coach Seabolt to spend time talking alumni through who is who!
Each bear in this photo has made things better for the next generation. That's what it is all about. We are so thankful for those that took the time to come out and watch, play, and hangout.
Big shots was awesome for our players to meet new alumni and relax at the end of the semester!
Some questionable golfing techniques made for good laughs although we did have some golfers in there somewhere!
We fully understand it is difficult to attend these events when our post MSU lives begin!
Coach Leamy spoke twice at alumni weekend and both times he spoke about once a bear, always a bear. We are all connected and will help each other whichever life path we are on. I think he mentioned something about "give money, give money, give money" too but thats none of my business haha.
You never know who knows who, or who knows what, so let's continue to connect and grow the bear community for many years to come.
We are beyond grateful for our alumni friends.
Thank you for all you do.
SPRING SEASON REVIEW
The Spring season is an awesome time to continue to develop as a team and as a program. We wanted to schedule different types of games across many different levels and that's what we were able to do.
Game day 1 brought about two very different tests in NCAA Division 1 ORU and NAIA Mid-America Christian University. The boys managed to get two wins scoring 8 goals on the day!
Game day two brought two very different challenges. Both Missouri Valley College and Jefferson Junior College made their respective final sites for the National tournament and finished the years very highly ranked in the NAIA and NJCAA.
The bears again came away with two wins and 9 goals in two games.
Lots of players, new and old, had great days against top competition.
Game day 3 was also at home and brought two brilliant tests.
The bears picked up two wins against a strong NCAA D1 team in Oral Roberts University and a very good NJCAA Junior College semi-finalist in Cowley Community College.
It was fantastic to see the boys maintain a strong winning mentality and get another two wins!
Game day 4 was our only road trip of the Spring season.
We played highly ranked Junior College Coffeyville Community College and NCAA Division 1 Tulsa at Tulsa University.
The games resulted in a pair of 1-1 draws and the Bears maintained our undefeated Spring record playing some awesome soccer on the day.
This also meant we were the Spring league tournament champions! Go Bears!!
Our final game day of the Spring was the Sunday before alumni weekend and we also brought in two highly ranked Junior colleges in Richland CC and Barton CC.
A win and a draw on the day left our bears with a 7-0-3 record for the Spring season. The guys also played most of these games with very limited substitutions against teams that in many cases were only playing one match on the day.
We are super proud of the work the boys put in all Spring.
We continue to push at an elite level and everyone inside and surrounding the program is committed to the work. The hard work is who we are!
Great job from all!
BEARS AWARDS BANQUET
Huge shoutout to Andrew Turner (Tables) for being our guest speaker at the Bears awards banquet this year!
Andrew is a committed family man who has excelled in his career in medical sales and is the epitome of a bear!
The Spring banquet is a great time to celebrate our players from the Fall semester.
Both individual and team awards are given out for excellence on and off the field.
Individual awards are fantastic and extremely well deserved. However, it is always important for our players to understand that individual awards do not exist without amazing teammates!
All but the Bear award and the Scholar award are selected by their teammates which for many is the biggest recognition of all! The Bear award is selected by the coaches.
Pascal Corvino and Lewis Green
Scholar Athlete Award
Pascal and Lewis have always shown excellence in the classroom and been very dedicated to their studies.
Both players had over a 3.8 GPA and took 18 credits of upper level courses in the Fall semester. Unbelievable work from both guys.
Congratulations to you both!
Ollie Bate
Newcomer of the Year
Ollie was voted newcomer of the year by his teammates.
Ollie worked extremely hard with a fantastic attitude throughout the Fall season.
He made a positive impact in games last Fall and we are very excited about him this coming year after a great 2023 Spring season.
Great job Ollie!
Javier Martin
Bear Award
The Bear award is voted based on all things that embody Missouri State Men's Soccer.
Javier is dedicated to giving his absolute best everyday and does it with tremendous quality and a most importantly a big smile.
Javier started 18 games out of 18 and was eligible for the MLS Superdraft in the Fall of 2022. We are excited to see what he accomplishes in 2023.
Great work Javi!
Jesus Barea
Most Valuable Player
Jesus is an extremely talented individual who had another great year with the group and was voted by his teammates as the most important component.
Jesus has developed into one of the leaders on the team and we are very excited to see what this Fall brings.
Great job Jesus.
HARRY TOWNSEND
#1 MOST SHUTOUTS IN THE COUNTRY
Harry had a brilliant year as his first year as a starter with the Bears earning the most clean sheets of any goalie in NCAA Division I in 2022.
Harry now holds the record for shutouts at MSU and we are extremely proud of him and excited for his Fall season.
Well done Harry!
The clean sheet record is something that is not possible without every team member.
The commitment to excellence and the willingness to work hard and defend for your team is something that has been an ever present for Missouri State soccer players.
Our players continue to push the boundaries, rewrite the history books, and be better than we were yesterday. Although the Fall ended earlier than we all wanted, we are extremely proud of the efforts from our boys and very excited for the years to come! We finished the year winning the MVC Tournament and Regular season double for the third season running. A first in program history. This group also won the regular season for the fourth year in a row, another program first.
SUMMER CAMPS OVERVIEW
Our Summer soccer camps have gotten off to a flyer in 2023 with a successful Spring ID camp.
We wanted to drop a note about camps in case any readers wanted to share them with anyone that might be interested.
We are excited to show off our program, facilities, and campus to all of our campers this Summer.
SPRING BEAR GRADUATES
We are super proud of our guys graduating this Spring. As you know the demands are high as a Bear both on and off the field. These boys have been fantastic in both aspects and we are super excited to welcome them to the alumni group and follow their life paths as friends!
LEWIS GREEN
We are extremely proud of Lewis and what he has been able to accomplish as a Bear.
He is super sharp in the classroom and an example for our team on how to approach their studies.
We will miss Lewis's personality on the field. Lewis is always smiling no matter the circumstances and a hugely positive influence.
As a player he has improved dramatically and became one of the best center backs in the country on attacking and defensive restarts.
We are excited to call him a friend and follow him in his playing and professional career.
Great job Greeny!
MATT JONES
Matt Jones has been fantastic since transferring into Missouri State.
Another hugely positive personality who we will miss being with every day.
Jonesy has been exceptional off the field and in the classroom.
On the field, he has developed into a strong, vocal, very technical center back whose qualities will greatly be missed.
We are wishing Jonesy all the best with the next stage in his playing career and cannot wait to follow his journey.
Welcome to the alumni club Jones!
Great job.
LORENZO DENTALE
We are excited for Lorenzo to be graduating and starting the next steps of his life back in Italy!
Lorenzo is another hugely positive person who is very popular among his teammates.
Another player that has been exceptional in the classroom and helped many of his teammates with their studies at MSU.
Lorenzo has showed tremendous quality as a player while with the Bears and has had an unbelievable Spring semester to finish.
Through injury and struggle, he continued to show his class whenever the opportunity presented. Another top talent that will be greatly missed.
We are proud to have him as an alumni and as a friend and follow his life journey.
Unbelievable work Lorry!
VINCENT ZINGEL
Vincent is another popular member of the team whose character is going to be missed on a daily basis.
Vincent had an injury just before arriving at MSU and it took him a long time to get back on the field. Nonetheless he always remained positive and wanted to find solutions to get back to playing.
He is another student athlete leaving us that has done absolutely everything required off the field. A great example in the team.
We are so unbelievably proud to see Vincent leaving Missouri State being fit and healthy.
The entire staff and team were so happy for him to take the field this Spring after fighting different injuries for the best part of two years.
We are super excited to follow your footballing and professional journey and happy to have you join the alumni team.
Great work Vinny!
Another huge thank you goes out to our friends, families, alumni and supporters. You are the heartbeat of Missouri State Men's Soccer and we are very grateful for all of you.
We will be in touch with another newsletter before the Fall campaign to share how the Bears are shaping up for the fastly approaching Fall season.
We are wishing everyone a wonderful Summer and we will see you all soon.
Let's Go Bears!
Missouri State Men's Soccer.