Missouri State has been tabbed as the team to beat in the 2023 MVC men’s soccer chase in a vote conducted by league coaches. The Bears received 78 points and six first-place votes in the poll to out-distance second place Western Michigan (75 points, three first-place votes). Bowling Green (55 points), Evansville (50 points), Belmont (41 points), UIC (35 points), Drake (34 points), Northern Illinois (25 points) and Bradley (12 points) round out the poll.
Missouri State represented the MVC in the NCAA Tournament field after claiming the program's third-straight MVC tourney title. The Bears became the 17th program to sweep the MVC regular season and tourney titles.
The Valley has a new look this season as Bowling Green, Northern Illinois and Western Michigan join the league as affiliate members.
#1 MISSOURI STATE
- Missouri State returns seven starters from last year’s 12-2-4 (6-0-2 MVC) team that advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fourth-consecutive season.
- Michael Seabolt returns as head coach for a second year after serving as an assistant the previous 15 seasons under Jon Leamy as his team received votes on the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.
- The Bears return a handful of key players in 2023 playing an extra year, such as Kian Yari, Javier Martin Gil, Jon Koka, Jack Denton and Pascal Corvino. Yari and Denton led the team with five assists each in 2022.
- Missouri State also adds new players such as 2020 United States Coaches All-West Region Second Team player Kengo Ohira, 2022 All-ASUN First Team player Alejandro Lopez and others.
#2 Western michigan
- Last season, Western Michigan finished the season 16-3-2, enroute to their second NCAA Sweet 16 berth in program history.
- The Broncos won the 2022 MAC Championship and finished the year with the top ranked defense in the nation.
- Head Coach Chad Wiseman has accumulated 106 wins during his tenure at Western Michigan. Currently in his 10th season, Wiseman is 20 wins from claiming the most wins in program history.
- Top returners include Charlie Sharp and Dylan Sing. Sharp was the leading scorer for the Broncos last season and holds multiple program records. He was also drafted by Toronto FC as the 61st overall pick in the MLS SuperDraft. Sing scored six goals and seven assists a year ago, ranking second on the team in scoring.
#3 Bowling green
- Bowling Green returns 11 letterwinners, including seven starters, from a 2022 team that went 6-5-5 overall and finished third in the Mid-American Conference with a 4-2-2 league ledger. Head coach Eric Nichols and his staff have a whopping 14 newcomers on the 2023 roster.
- The 2022 Falcons set a school record for fewest goals allowed in a season, surrendering just 10 in 16 matches. BG’s goals-against average of 0.63 was the second-lowest in school history, and the lowest since 1991. • Brendan Graves returns after playing every second between the posts last season. His GAA of 0.63 was the third lowest in the ‘modern’ era (since 1980).
- BGSU returns six of last year’s top-eight scorers, including Alberto Anaya (3-4=10), who was third on the club in scoring despite missing four games due to injury. Anaya was named to the All-MAC Second Team last fall.
#4 EVANSVILLE
- Evansville returns almost all of its goal scoring from the team's 8-5-6 (3-2-3 MVC) 2022 campaign that ended in the championship game of the MVC Tournament for the third-straight year.
- It will be a new era of Purple Aces men's soccer as Robbe Tarver takes over the reigns as interim head coach in 2023. Tarver spent three seasons as an Assistant Coach and an Associate Head Coach for Evansville under former Head Coach Marshall Ray. Tarver was named to the interim position after Ray announced he was stepping away from collegiate soccer coaching in March.
- Overall, the Aces return 25 players from their 2022 roster for 2023. Returning players include 7 starters such as MVC Freshman of the Year, Nacho Diaz Barragan.
#5 Belmont
- After coming within a single goal of a third-straight conference championship title match and making a fourth consecutive appearance in a conference tournament semifinal contest in Belmont’s first season back in the MVC, the Bruins look to contend for the league crown once again.
- Belmont returns 14 letter winners in 2023, including six starters and All-MVC Second Team performers Case Cox, Michael Saunders and Jansen Wilson. Returning defenders Riley Clothier and Dylan Steely, who were members of the MVC All-Freshman Team last year, will be joined by two-time All-Southern Conference Second Team and 2021 all-region midfielder AJ Chastonay while the Bruins welcome four transfers and four freshmen.
- Undefeated at home the past two seasons, Belmont takes an impressive 18-match unbeaten streak at E.S. Rose Park into its new campaign. The Bruins haven’t suffered a home setback since March 30, 2021.
#6 UIC
- UIC returns 11 letter-winners from the 2022 season and will feature 19 newcomers for the 2023 campaign. The transfer portal was kind to the Flames in the off-season, as 13 of the 19 new faces enter the season with previous collegiate experience. Six freshmen are slated to make their collegiate debuts in the 2023 season for UIC.
- The Flames went 5-9-2 a season ago, finishing fifth in their inaugural season in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 3-4-1 mark in conference play.
- Leading goal-scorer Josh Torres (8 goals, 1 assist) returns for his junior season up front, and redshirt senior starting goaltender Andres Vasquez returns after starting 14 of 16 matches between the poles in 2022, sporting a 1.57 goals against average.
#7 DRAKE
- Drake will look to replicate their expectation-defying 2022 season. The Bulldogs finished the 2022 regular season as the No. 2 seed in the MVC tournament despite being selected to finish at the bottom of the league standings.
- The Bulldogs return six starters and a few key contributors. Leading scorer and All-MVC First-Teamer AJ Franklin brings his talents back to Des Moines to lead the Drake attack. The grad forward netted eight goals and a pair of assists a season ago.
- A handful of transfer talent will also be on display for Drake including former Big Ten performer Deng Deng and Braden Griffin, a former MVC foe for the Bradley Braves.
#8 NORTHERN ILLINOIS
- The Huskies return four starters from the 2022 season when they posted a 5-8-4 overall record. Despite losing seven starters from a season ago, NIU’s returnees accounted for 75 percent of their goals scored a season ago.
- Head coach Ryan Swan is beginning his seventh season at NIU. Swan was named the MAC Coach of the Year in 2021 when he guided the Huskies to a school-record tying 15 wins, including both the MAC regular season and tournament titles.
- NIU is beginning its inaugural season as an affiliate member of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Huskies had been in the Mid-American Conference since 1997.
#9 BRADLEY
- Bradley enters the 27th year of the Jim DeRose era, in that time span BU owns four regular season championships and three tournament titles. DeRose boasts 262 career wins on the hilltop making him the winningest coach in BU soccer history.
- BU welcomes 23 newcomers to their 2023 roster including 13 freshmen headlined by Nathiel Isom from FC Cincinnati's youth academy. This is Bradley's largest crop of total newcomers for a single season in program history.
- Bradley also returns a handful of impact players from last season including senior midfielder Pepe Mellado who's earned 27 starts, five goals, and four assists in his two seasons at BU to pair alongside a solid group of junior backline defenders with Jackson Fyda and Jared Sinnaeve who combine for 51 starts and nearly 5,000 minutes played.