Fayette, Mo. – The No. 1 Central Methodist men's soccer team will host rival, No. 2 Missouri Valley College for the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Championship Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 p.m at Davis Field.
As part of Saturday's championship match, CMU Athletics is encouraging all fans in attendance to wear black as par to of the "Black Out" Theme for the evening.
The Eagles enter the matchup ranked No. 1 in the NAIA with an 18-1 overall record, while the Vikings are not far behind at the No. 4 spot with a 14-3-1 mark.
Central, who won the Heart of America regular-season championship with a perfect 12-0 record, has played several challenging games this spring season. The matchups included four NCAA DI opponents with the Eagles coming out on top in three of those contests. CMU also defeated two NAIA top 25 teams including No. 2 Oklahoma Wesleyan and No. 17 Mid-America Christian. In the Heart Tournament, Central shut out Mount Mercy in the quarterfinals 3-0 followed by a 3-1 semifinal win over William Penn.
Missouri Valley College only played two regular-season games this spring, defeating Hannibal La-Grange and Concordia. In the Heart Tournament, MVC faced Park in the quarterfinals and No. 19 MidAmerica Nazarene, defeating both teams by a final score of 5-1.
The CMU and MVC men's soccer rivalry has picked up pace in the last five seasons, as both teams have been featured in the NAIA Top 25 on numerous occasions. Since 2016, both sides have squared off eight times, with the most notable matchup coming in 2018 when they played in the final of the Heart Tournament and again in the NAIA National Championship. Despite Missouri Valley claiming victory in the Heart final, Central got their revenge in the NAIA Championship title match after defeating MVC on PKs. This season, CMU defeated Missouri Valley by a score of 3-1 back on Oct. 28 in Marshall.
Tickets for the championship match can be reserved at https://www.cmueagles.com/fan_zone/tickets. CMU students, faculty, and staff can access tickets using their CMU ID. For parents of CMU soccer student-athletes, please use the student-athlete's CMU ID to purchase. Missouri Valley fans must contact Head Coach Drew Hawkins for information on how to access tickets.
Fans not in attendance can watch the match live on the Heart Conference Network, or follow along with live stats.
#TakeFlight
